(Super)Man Of Prayer

March 26, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Man of prayerKing David’s wholehearted devotion to God is well known. We can see it especially in the most trying moments of his life. And what I see is a real man … a (super)man of prayer.

David opens the 108th Psalm with a declaration: “My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul” (108:1).

He is really saying, “No matter what, I will praise God. The situation will never distract me from focusing on the One who is worthy to receive the very best praise I can offer!” And it’s a good thing he made this declaration, because in the very next psalm he begins a nasty description of wicked and deceitful men who would almost cause David to focus on them instead of God.

David responds, “BUT I am a man of prayer” (109:4). David’s knee-jerk reaction when slandered by bad guys was to hit his knees in prayer! And, boy oh boy, did he let loose in prayer!

I love how honest David is with his hurt feelings in God’s presence. Never in all the narratives in the books of Samuel or Kings or Chronicles do we read anything of David saying these sorts of things to his enemies. But since these thoughts are in his heart, he must get them out in the presence of his God.

I also love David’s singular desire for God to receive all the glory—“Help me, O Lord my God; save me in accordance with Your love. Let them know that it is Your hand, that You, O Lord, have done it” (109:26-27).

I pray that I can become more and more a (super)man of prayer like David! Look! Down on his knees … it’s a (super)man of prayer!

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Links & Quotes

March 25, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

link quoteThese are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

I was saddened to hear of World Vision’s cultural cave-in to homosexuality (despite their denial that they caved). Here is John Piper’s great response: Adultery No, Homosexual Practice Yes.

David Wilkerson challenges us to be less self-centered in our prayers in The Focus Of Prayer.

And this reminder from Charles Spurgeon about prayerlessness−“Prayerless souls are Christless souls; for you can have no real fellowship with Christ, no communion with the Father, unless you approach His mercy-seat, and be often there.”

“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him. And the higher and mightier it is in the natural order, the more demoniac it will be if it rebels. It’s not out of bad mice or bad fleas you make demons, but out of bad archangels.” —C.S. Lewis

I love how vocal and active Tim Tebow is for life!

And on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, this murdering doctor makes me ill!

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Links & Quotes

March 24, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will be judged not by how much I have done but by how much I could have done.” —A.W. Tozer

Medical science tells us what the nose knows.

Great advice on handling people who are mean: “But I mustn’t encourage you to go on thinking about her: that, after all, is almost the greatest evil nasty people can do us—to become an obsession, to haunt our minds. A brief prayer for them, and then away to other subjects, is the thing, if one can only stick to it.” —C.S. Lewis

“Some stumble because they do not see the stone in the way: divine grace enables us to perceive it and so to avoid it. … Oh, for grace to walk this day without a single stumble! It is not enough that we do not actually fall; our cry should be that we may not make the smallest slip with our feet but may at the last adore Him ‘Who is able to keep us from stumbling.’” —Charles Spurgeon

I like this: 4 Ways You Should Pray For Your Pastors.

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Gems

March 19, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

GemsDo you ever get lost in the “begats” of the Bible? You know those long, tedious lists of who was born to whom? In 1 Chronicles there’s an equally long list of names that goes on for five chapters(!) of who’s in charge of what. But be careful not to skip over these lists. The Holy Spirit included them in the inspired Word of God for a reason, and sometimes you find some real gems buried in these lists.

Here are a few that I recently unearthed…

For David had said… (1 Chronicles 23:25)—David’s heart was so closely knit with God’s heart that the words he spoke were God’s words coming through David’s mouth, as he gave instructions about how worship in the tabernacle should be conducted.

David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph… (25:1, 3, 7)—Asaph, Hemen and Jeduthun prophesied through their singing in the tabernacle. They didn’t compose music and sing to entertain, but to call people to God. Notice, too, that all of the worship leaders in the tabernacle were “trained and skilled in music for the Lord.” Those God calls, He equips.

For God had blessed Obed-Edom… (26:5-8)—The Ark of the Covenant—the symbol of God’s presence—had been housed in Obed-Edom’s home. God’s presence produces blessing! Listen to how Obed-Edom’s descendants are described:

  • Leaders
  • Capable men
  • Able men
  • Capable men with the strength to do the work

Elihu… (27:18)—Even David’s older brother chose to serve him.

Hushai the Arkite was the king’s friend… (27:33)—In the listing of all the court officials, here is a man with no other title than David’s friend.

God’s Word is alive! Ask the Holy Spirit, Who inspired the men who penned these words, to give you fresh revelation as you read the Bible. Then prepare to be amazed at the gems He will reveal to you!

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Links & Quotes

March 17, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.” —Westminster Confession

“Whenever fear comes in and makes us falter, we are in danger of falling into sin. Conceit is to be dreaded, but so is cowardice. … Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid. Your worst enemy is within your own bosom. Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up saying, ‘I will trust, and not be afraid.’” —Charles Spurgeon

[INFOGRAPHIC] Every Dream In The Bible

[VIDEO] What Babies Learn Before They’re Born

“Within the circles of evangelical Christianity itself there has arisen in the last few years dangerous and dismaying trends away from true Bible Christianity. A spirit has been introduced which is surely not the Spirit of Christ, methods employed which are wholly carnal, objectives adopted which have not one line of Scripture to support them, a level of conduct accepted which is practically identical with that of the world—and yet scarcely one voice has been raised in opposition.” —A.W. Tozer

[VIDEO] Very funny video from Ken Davis & Chonda Pierce about clueless husbands!

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Links & Quotes

March 15, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting this weekend.

Read this one prayerfully: Why Christian Supporters Of Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ Are Wrong.

Some on-the-go missionaries explain How Technology Helps Our Marriage.

Continue to let your voice be heard to save Pastor Saaed from his wrongful imprisonment in Iran.

Amen! “The minister must experience what he would teach or he will find himself in the impossible position of trying to drive sheep. For this reason he should seek to cultivate his own heart before he attempts to preach to the hearts of others.” —A.W. Tozer

[VIDEO] John Maxwell explains why failure is not fatal.

[VIDEO] HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius proves why so many people don’t trust Washington, D.C.

Scientists show that the 5-Second Rule for food on the floor is legit!

“It is a mistake to think we must feel good before we pray; we need to pray most of all when we feel poor, and empty, and weak.” —Hannah Whitall Smith

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Links & Quotes

March 11, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

[VIDEO] Greg Koukl explains Why Should I Defend My Faith?

“Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” —C.S. Lewis

Abortionists want to be applauded today, but instead we need to pray for them. It’s National Abortionist Prayer Day.

When Millennials are under-employed, unmarried, and unchurched at record levels, National Review Online asks What Could Go Wrong?

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Links & Quotes

March 10, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“Obedience brings a blessing on all the provisions which our industry earns for us. … If we live born hand to mouth, getting each day’s supply in the day, we are as well off as Israel; for when the Lord entertained His favored people He only gave them a day’s manna at a time. What more did they need? What more do we need? But if we have a store, how much we need the Lord to bless it! For there is the care of getting, the care of keeping, the care of managing, the care of using; and, unless the Lord bless it, these cares will eat into our hearts till our goods become our gods and our cares prove cankers. O Lord, bless our substance. Enable us to use it for Thy glory. Help us to keep worldly things in their proper places, and never may our savings endanger the saving of our souls.” —Charles Spurgeon

“You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then He is like a rose blooming in the midst of desolation, a rock rising above the storm.” —Robert Murray McCheyne

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Hyper-Mega Dynamite

March 10, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

Ephesians 1-19One of my favorite scenes in the movie Elf is when Buddy is discovering all the amazing human things in New York City. In a public restroom he stands up on the toilet in his stall to shout to the person occupying the stall next to him, “Have you seen these toilets? They’re ginormous!” It was so amazing to him that gigantic wouldn’t cut it, and neither would enormous, so he combined them together … it’s ginormous!!

When I read Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Ephesus (see Ephesians 1:17-23), I get the sense that even the well-educated apostle was having difficulty finding enough adjectives to describe the amazing inheritance we have in Christ. He mentions things like…

  • Out-of-this-world wisdom,
  • divine revelation,
  • deep and intimate knowledge of God,
  • a flooding of heavenly light,
  • supernatural hope, and
  • an overflowing, incalculable, inestimable, eternally-compounding inheritance!

But then he comes to God’s power and his vocabulary almost fails him. Like Buddy the elf, he starts putting words together to try to convey the vast majesty of this power.

Most Bible translations say something like incomparably great power. But when you look at the Greek you see prefixes like hyper! and mega! and you realize that Paul is saying it’s so beyond gigantic or enormous … it’s ginormous!! 

The word for power is “dynamis,” and many people have said that God’s power is like dynamite. But they have it exactly backwards! Dynamite has only been around for 200 years. When dynamite was created it was named after Christians who were living in the hyper-mega, ginormous, dynamic power of Jesus Christ. Christians’ power wasn’t named after dynamite; dynamite was named after empowered Christians!

This is the power in which Christians can live everyday in every way! This is the power God has for you! If you’re living in anything less than hyper-mega dynamite power, perhaps you should pray for yourself the prayer that Paul prayed for us! 

We’ll be continuing our series in Ephesians this coming Sunday, and I’d love for you to join us.

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The Great Boon Of Peace

March 9, 2014 — Craig T. Owens

In these times of both international and national upheaval, these words from Charles Spurgeon seem very appropriate—

C.H. Spurgeon

“Specially should our nation and our city be blest by our constant intercession. An earnest prayer for your country and other countries is well becoming in the mouth of every believer. Eagerly let us pray for the great boon of peace, both at home and abroad. If strife should cause bloodshed in out streets, or if foreign battle should slay our brave soldiers, we should all bewail the calamity; let us therefore pray for peace and diligently promote those principles by which the classes at home and the races abroad may be bound together in bonds of amity.”

Will you stop what you’re doing right now, before you click anything else on your computer, and pray for God’s peace in the world … in your country … in your very own city …

Thanks! Now let’s keep praying all through this week for peace!

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