prayer | Craig T. Owens

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Links & Quotes

January 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Do not forget the close bond between the inner room and the outside world. The attitude of the inner prayer room must remain with us all day. The object of secret prayer is to unite us to God that we may know His abiding presence with us.” ―Andrew Murray

“There are two ways by which man might have been for ever blessed. The one was by works: ‘This do and thou shalt live; be obedient and receive the reward.’ The other plan was: ‘Receive grace and blessedness as the free gift of God; stand as a guilty sinner having no merit, and as a rebellious sinner deserving the very reverse of goodness, but stand there and receive all thy good things, simply, wholly, and alone of the free love and sovereign mercy of God.’ Now, the Lord has not chosen the system of works.” —Charles Spurgeon

It is appalling to me that people still try to defend abortion. This post talks about the pain that babies experience during the abortion procedure.

Interesting: 11 trends in American marriages and families.

[VIDEO] A very intriguing interview on Meet The Press with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965―

Your Greatest Stress Reliever

January 19, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Sadly our country is anxious and worried. Based on the number of anti-depressants that are prescribed each year, we are a people dealing with a lot of issues!

When worry or fear begin to interfere with normal thinking and functioning, doctors call it anxiety disorder―that is, disorder in our lives creates the anxiety, and more anxiety creates even more disorder.

What causes anxiety in the first place? One of the main culprits is chronic stress. Things like marital problems, financial pressures, relationship breakdowns, emotional traumas trigger the fight-or-flight responses in our bodies. This leads to increased blood pressure and heart rate, interrupted sleep patterns, digestion issues … and all of this leads to the chronic stress, which leads to anxiety, which leads to even more disorder!

But here’s the great news―Getting into God’s presence could be your greatest stress reliever!

There’s a story in 2 Kings of a woman who is clearly stressed out. Her husband has died, she’s exhausted all her resources trying to settle up with creditors, she has sold nearly everything in her home, and one creditor is ready to carry her sons off into slavery. Talk about anxiety!

Elisha asks this widow two questions:

How can I help you? Jesus said that our Heavenly Father knows our needs before we even ask Him, but in the very next verse Jesus says, “This then is how you should pray…” (Matthew 6:8-9).
What do you have? God will use even what we think is insignificant to show His superabundance in our lives!

God did meet this woman’s needs. He gave her enough to pay off her creditor. But that wasn’t all―God also gave this family enough to keep on living stress-free!

God Who, by the action of His power that is at work within us, is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly, far over and above all that we dare ask or think―infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams. (Ephesians 3:20, AMP)

Don’t try to carry all your stress yourself, cast ALL your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

I’ll say it again―Getting into God’s presence could be your greatest stress reliever!

We are continuing our series on prayer next Sunday, and I hope you can join me!

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: anxiety, Bible, Calvary Assembly of God, Elisha, emotional health, fight-or-flight, God's presence, Jesus Christ, prayer, stress. 1 Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Soldiers Of Christ, Arise

January 17, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

To keep your armor bright,

Attend with constant care,

Still walking in your Captain’s sight,

And watching unto prayer.

Ready for all alarms,

Steadfastly set your face,

And always exercise your arms,

And use your every grace.

Pray without ceasing, pray,

Your Captain gives the word;

His summons cheerfully obey

And call upon the Lord;

To God your every want

In instant prayer display,

Pray always; pray and never faint,

Pray, without ceasing, pray!

In fellowship; alone,

To God with faith draw near;

Approach His courts, besiege His throne

With all the powers of prayer:

Go to His temple, go,

Nor from His altar move;

Let every house His worship know,

And every heart His love.

To God your spirits dart,

Your souls in words declare,

Or groan, to Him who reads the heart,

The unutterable prayer.

His mercy now implore,

And now show forth His praise,

In shouts, or silent awe, adore

His miracles of grace.

Pour out your souls to God,

And bow them with your knees,

And spread your hearts and hands abroad,

And pray for Sion’s peace;

Your guides, and brethren, bear

For ever on your mind;

Extend the arms of mighty prayer,

In grasping all mankind.

From strength to strength go on,

Wrestle, and fight, and pray,

Tread all the powers of darkness down,

And win the well-fought day;

Still let the Spirit cry

In all His soldiers, “Come!”

Till Christ the Lord descends from high

And takes the conquerors home. —Charles Wesley

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Charles Wesley, faith, fellowship, God's power, grace, Jesus Christ, miracles, poetry, prayer. Leave a Comment »

Too Busy To Pray?

January 15, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I get it, you’re busy. There’s lots happening and it’s hard to find time to pray. But we are robbing ourselves of so much when we don’t find the time to pray!

“Sometimes, if we are not careful, our best friend may distract us. Or it might be some very legitimate activity. This day’s bustle and hurly-burly would too often and too soon call us away from Jesus’ feet. These distractions must be immediately dismissed, or we shall know only the ‘barrenness of busyness.’” —A.W. Tozer

“Time is precious, but there are occasions when the best use we can make of it, is to let it run on. If time flies, that is no reason why I am always to fly. Every experienced man knows that by being wrongly busy for one hour, he may make mischief which a lifetime would hardly rectify. If I run without waiting to enquire the way, I may run upon my ruin. Many who have been very busy in helping themselves, would have done better waiting upon their Lord. Prayer is never a waste of time.” —Charles Spurgeon

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: A.W. Tozer, busyness, Charles Spurgeon, prayer. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

January 13, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“We all have the sneaking idea that we are the favorites of God—‘It’s alright for me to do this, God will understand.’ If I as a child of God commit sin, I will be as sternly dealt with as if I were not His child.” ―Oswald Chambers

“I did not think that I had done anything when I hear them [his congregation] applauding, but when I saw them weeping.” —Augustine

“God uses our struggles for His glory!” Read more from Max Lucado in his post A Season Of Suffering.

“Pain is terrible, but surely you need not have fear as well? Can you not see death as the friend and deliverer? It means stripping off that body which is tormenting you: like taking off a hair-shirt or getting out of a dungeon. What is there to be afraid of?” ―C.S. Lewis

“You can blame your unhappiness on poor health, being misunderstood, or having an uncaring mate, boss or friend. In fact, you can blame it on anything you choose. But the truth is that there is no excuse for a Christian to live as a slave to the devil.” Read more from David Wilkerson in his post The Lack Of Victory.

Pastor Dave Barringer shares 7 prayers you may be the answer for.

Great question, great post: What Keeps Us From Having Deeper Friendships?

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Augustine, C.S. Lewis, cartoon, Christian, Dave Barringer, David Wilkerson, death, devil, friendship, God's glory, Max Lucado, Oswald Chambers, pain, pastoring, prayer, quotes, relationships, sermon, sin, social media, suffering, victory. Leave a Comment »

Pray & Dig

January 12, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

The fact is far too many of us get ourselves into hot water all on our own, and then we want to call on God like an insurance policy to bail us out. We usually have some reasonable-sounding excuses:

“It seemed like a good idea at the time”
“It was so practical and common sense I didn’t think I needed to pray about it”
“I’ve done this dozens of times before and never had any trouble.”

There’s a story in 2 Kings where three kings got together for a battle. To them it seemed like a pretty good idea―there were three of them going to war against just one king, they knew the terrain, so it would be an easy victory.

Except it wasn’t.

The Bible says that after a 7-day roundabout march, the three armies were out of food, out of water, stranded in the desert, and about to be defeated without the enemy ever firing an arrow or swinging a sword.

One king wanted to blame God. The king of Israel said, “Bad news! God has gotten us three kings out here to dump us into the hand of Moab.” (2 Kings 3:10, MSG). But fortunately the king of Judah thought to ask, “Isn’t there a prophet of God around that can call on God for us?” (v. 11).

Here’s one of the most amazing things: Elisha―the representative of God’s presence―was right there with them! Think about that … these kings hadn’t asked God for help, and hadn’t invited Elisha along, but there was the prophet right in their midst!

It’s a good reminder for us: God is ALWAYS with us. But it’s up to us to recognize Him and go to Him in prayer.

When these kings finally asked God for help with their water problem, Elisha said, “It’s an easy thing for God to provide water for you. You’ve prayed, now it’s time to prepare for His supply.” The armies were called on to dig lots and lots of ditches. God would send a supply of water without rain to take care of the troops. And if that wasn’t enough, God also said He would give them victory over their enemy. As Matthew Henry wrote, “God’s grants out-do our requests and expectations.”

Pray first. Pray continually. Pray always. And then when God tells you to dig ditches, get ready for His abundant blessings. But get the order right: Don’t dig and then pray; pray first, then dig!

If you’re in the Cedar Springs area, please join me next Sunday as we continue our series The Prayers Of Elisha.

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: Calvary Assembly of God, Elisha, God's presence, prayer, sermon. 1 Comment »

Poetry Saturday—Come, My Soul, With Every Care

January 10, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:

Jesus loves to answer prayer;

He Himself has bid thee pray,

Therefore will not say thee nay;

Therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,

Large petitions with thee bring;

For His grace and power are such,

None can ever ask too much;

None can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:

Lord, remove this load of sin;

Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt,

Set my conscience free from guilt;

Set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to Thee for rest,

Take possession of my breast;

There Thy blood bought right maintain,

And without a rival reign;

And without a rival reign.

As the image in the glass

Answers the beholder’s face;

Thus unto my heart appear,

Print Thine own resemblance there;

Print Thine own resemblance there.

While I am a pilgrim here,

Let Thy love my spirit cheer;

As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,

Lead me to my journey’s end;

Lead me to my journey’s end.

Show me what I have to do,

Every hour my strength renew:

Let me live a life of faith,

Let me die Thy people’s death;

Let me die Thy people’s death. —John Newton

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: conscience, grace, guilt, Jesus Christ, John Newton, poetry, prayer. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

January 9, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

I get really tired of the arguments from people questioning the validity of the Bible. Most of the arguments have been debunked a long time ago, and are simply repeated ad nauseum. Here is a great post from a New Testament scholar taking apart these arguments.

Almost as bad as the arguments against the validity of Scripture are the arguments for socialized medicine. Here are 5 reasons why Obamacare should be completely repealed.

Parents, you should be aware of some security issues for your kids on Instagram.

“You will do more in one year if you are really filled with the Holy Ghost than you could do in 50 years apart from Him.” ―Smith Wigglesworth

“Do not even such things as are most bitter to the flesh, tend to awaken Christians to faith and prayer, to a sight of the emptiness of this world, and the fadingness of the best it yield? … How then can we be offended at things by which we reap so much good?” ―John Bunyan

“Pride, on the other hand, is the mother of all sins, and the original sin of lucifer … an instrument strung but preferring to play itself because it thinks it knows the tune better than the Musician.” ―C.S. Lewis

“The assurance that prayer is heard is the earnest that prayer will be answered. The petition is accepted, though no answer has yet been received. Well, we can leave it there. … God never is before His time; nor is He ever too late; He comes just when He is needed.” —Charles Spurgeon

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: apologetic, argument, assurance, Bible, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Chilly Chilton, Christian, faith, God's timing, Holy Spirit, Instagram, John Bunyan, lucifer, New Testament, Obamacare, parenting, prayer, pride, satan, Scripture, Smith Wigglesworth, social media, socialism, stewardship. 1 Comment »

C.S. Lewis On Prayer

January 8, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

Some great quotes from C.S. Lewis on prayer…

“We must lay before God what is in us, not what we want to be in us.” —C.S. Lewis

“It is quite useless knocking at the door of Heaven for earthly comfort. It’s not the sort of comfort they supply there.” —C.S. Lewis

“Of course you will all remain in my prayers. I think it very wrong to pray for people while they are in distress and then not to continue praying, now with thanksgiving, when they are relieved. Many people think their prayers are never answered because it is the answered ones that they forget.” —C.S. Lewis

“Well, let’s now at any rate come clean. Prayer is irksome. An excuse to omit it is never unwelcome. When it is over, this casts a feeling of relief and holiday over the rest of the day. We are reluctant to begin. We are delighted to finish. While we are at prayer, but not while we are reading a novel or solving a crossword puzzle, any trifle is enough to distract us…. Now the disquieting thing is not simply that we skimp and begrudge the duty of prayer. The really disquieting thing is it should be numbered among duties at all. For we believe that we were created ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ And if the few, the very few, minutes we now spend on intercourse with God are a burden to us rather than a delight, what then?… The painful effort which prayer involves is not proof that we are doing something we were not created to do. If we were perfected, prayer would not be a duty, it would be a delight. Someday, please God, it will be.” —C.S. Lewis

“I think it wise, if possible, to move one’s main prayers from the last-thing-at-night position to some earlier time: give them a better chance to infiltrate one’s other thoughts.” —C.S. Lewis

Posted in Uncategorized. Tags: C.S. Lewis, Heaven, prayer, thanksgiving, thought life, trouble. Leave a Comment »

Links & Quotes

January 5, 2015 — Craig T. Owens

“Let us thirst to know Him of Whom even His enemies said, ‘Never man spake like this Man,’ and His unrighteous judge said, ‘I find no fault in Him.’ Above all, let us long to know Christ in His Person. This year endeavor to make a better acquaintance with the Crucified One. … This year seek to penetrate into His very heart, and to search those deep far-reaching caverns of His unknown love, that love which can never find a rival, and can never know a parallel.” —Charles Spurgeon

“Beware of insulting God by being a pious prude instead of a pure person.” —Oswald Chambers

“To pray well is the better half of study.” ―Martin Luther

“Of all marvelous things, perhaps there is nothing that angels behold with such supreme astonishment as a proud man.” —Charles Caleb Colton

[Video] John Maxwell on humility—