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31 – ways or flavors for praying for your children…

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…found in this helpful post from Bob Hostetler. If you’re like me, you want to pray for your kids. You know that God has to work in them or there really isn’t much hope. You want Him to do His work. You just start rehearsing the same old things. These 31 ways would be a different thing you could emphasize each day of the month. I use Google Calendar to remind me of Psalms of the Day, Scripture memory for the week and could easily incorporate this.

Also, Andrew Case’s book Setting Their Hope in God is helpful for me these days in praying for my children. Whatever you use, though, Pray!

Avoid Vain Repetition in Prayer…

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…from the DG Blog…

In chapter nine of When I Don’t Desire God, John Piper introduces a memorable and helpful acronym for what to pray before reading Scripture: I. O. U. S.

* Incline my heart to you, not to prideful gain or any false motive. (Psalm 119:36)
* Open my eyes to behold wonderful things in your Word. (Psalm 119:18)
* Unite my heart to fear your name. (Psalm 86:11)
* Satisfy me with you steadfast love. (Psalm 90:14)

The article has more. Read and benefit.

Devoted to Prayer…

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Today’s sermon, A Praying Church, from Colossians 4:2-4 is now online. The sermon surveyed 4 elements of a praying church:
1) She makes prayer her habit
2) She perseveres in prayer
3) She prays gratefully
and 4) She advances the Gospel through prayer.

While we should not minimize our role in taking the Gospel to unbelievers (See next week’s passage Colossians 4:5-6), we often fail to realize the amazing Gospel-advancing work that is ours in prayer as we pray for what I called: open doors, open lives and open mouths. So, join your church in advancing the Gospel through one means: prayer.

Weekend Recap – Living for Christ’s Name

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Today’s sermon, In the Name, from Colossians 3:17 is now online. It was an amazing Lord’s Day morning as we wrapped up memorizing Psalm 1 and jumped into Hebrews 13:5-6. Also, singing all those wonderful songs we have in our repertoire on Jesus’ name were a huge blessing. It seemed God was work among us as we saw the call from God’s Word to live for something bigger than ourselves. Specifically, we saw God’s Word call us to live completely, for Christ’s name, with gratitude.

Tonight, we hope to continue a wonderful Lord’s day with a time of corporate prayer. In case you can’t make it, some big items to join the Elders in praying for are:
– Long Term Wisdom in Expansion/Remodeling
– 2011 Budget
– 2011 International Missions Trip
– 2010 Praises
– Those suffering from chronic health challenges in our church
– Launch of Wed Evening Activities this week (September 1)

I hope your enjoyment of God this Lord’s day is full and continual.

Eyelids Testing…

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Having a four and two year old in the house can create some fun situations. This week, Meg is working on potty training Gabe and when she’s in the bathroom with him (and Andrew knows that no one is there to stop him) he raids the pantry. On Monday, he downed a container of chocolate chip cookies. Yesterday, it was something else.

Today, I was working through a Psalm of the Day, Psalm 11, and read the following:

The Lord is in His holy temple;
The Lord’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of man. (v.4)

I wondered immediately, what does this mean that “His eyelids test the children of man”? How do eyelids test or assess? The answer is found back in my opening illustration. What do you do when you think God won’t see (i.e. you think His eyelids are shut)? v.5 continues:

The Lord tests His righteous,
but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

These anthropomorphisms (attributing earthly characteristics to God) are the Psalmists way of helping us see our constant accountability before our Maker. What does God see? Everything. Therefore, let’s live before this Holy One in a way that brings glory to Him.

Father, You are holy and Your eyes see everything about us. Let us take refuge in You and live for You because You are righteous and You love righteous deeds. And, let all the upright behold Your face. May we live our lives in ways that make You glorious. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Praying for the Persecuted Church

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On Saturday, I received my latest edition of Voice of the Martyrs magazine, calling us to be praying for the needs of the persecuted church. There’s even an online map showing the areas of greatest need. Let’s pray for perseverance and boldness for Christians among these nations.

On a related note, David Platt does Secret Church which is one outlet for tapping the needs of the persecuted church. The website says:

When we think of “church” in America, we think of going to meet at a building, singing, praying and hearing a message from a Pastor or teacher. But in many places around the world, “church” meets in a home, an apartment, even in secret. These small groups of Christ-followers often meet for many hours in study, prayer and fellowship, as it is dangerous to travel to “church” and they want to make the most of their time together.

Secret Church is our “house church,” where we meet periodically for an intense time of Bible study–lasting 4-6 hours–and prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters across the globe. This is not for the uncommitted or faint at heart. But if you desire to know God more deeply through His Word, and know His Church more fully around the world, then please join us for Secret Church.

God will use this focused time of study to enrich our knowledge of His Word as we gain understanding of the state of His Church and our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. The objective of Secret Church is for you to pass along what you learn to others, so that you can make disciples of Christ–both locally and globally.

Check out the resources. But above all…PRAY!

T4G Prayer Items

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Together for the Gospel is next week. I look forward to traveling with 12 of our men to go to this conference (with an estimated 7000 attenders). Kevin DeYoung offers the following tips in praying for the conference…

* Pray for safe travel.
* Pray for good conversations on the road and in the hotel.
* Pray for the ability to comprehend and apply a fire hose of good teaching.
* Pray for the speakers, for their preparation, for their hearts, for their health, for passion and humility.
* Pray that thousands of local churches would be strengthened through this gathering.
* Pray against envy, comparison, competition, and pride.
* Pray for discernment to buy some good books, not too few and not too many.
* Pray for the families left back at home, mostly wives and children.
* Pray for musicians, technicians, and volunteers who will serve us during the conference.
* Pray for conversions. Some in attendance may not be believers. Certainly thousands in Louisville aren’t and could hear the gospel from one of us.

In particular we can pray for the folks working behind the scenes to put together this massive event. There must be hundreds laboring on our behalf. But I know of three men in particular who need our prayers:

Paul Medler (Sovereign Grace)
Matt Schmucker (9Marks)
Andrew Sherwood (9Marks)

These brothers have been and will be serving us in countless ways. I asked Paul Medler how we could pray. He wrote:

Prayer would be appreciated—the key people are Matt Schmucker, assisted by Andrew Sherwood (both 9Marks) and me. With 7,000 attending, there are many details and items to be coordinated, so we’d appreciate prayer for the ability to be diligent, clear-minded, and attentive to the many details, and for stamina and good health! Thanks!

Prayer about Ultimate Health Care…

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…from Scotty Smith.

A portion:

Forgive me… when I spend more time being cynical and snide about government, rather than prayerful and engaged with the brokenhearted and the broken-bodied all around me. Health care is a good thing, a gospel thing. You are the Lord who heals (Exodus 15:26). By the wounds of your Son, Jesus, we are healed (Isa 53:5). You give gifts of healings, to and through your people (1 Cor. 12:9). A part of your kingdom agenda is the ultimate health care of the new heaven and new earth, when the leaves of the tree of life will provide healing for the nations (Rev. 22:2). Hasten that Day, Father, please, hasten that Day.

Update on Matt Chandler…

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(Thanks, Benjamin!)

The Elders of The Village report:

Matt will undergo surgery Friday afternoon

Pastor Matt Chandler will have surgery Friday afternoon to remove a tumor located in the frontal lobe of his brain. The surgery will be performed by Dr. David Barnett.

Dr. Barnett told Matt that he was positive about recovery but won’t know the full results until the surgery is performed. The doctor was uncertain about the malignancy of the tumor, and a biopsy will be performed as part of the surgery.

The outpouring of support and prayers from all over the world has been overwhelming to Matt and Lauren. Continue to pray and fast on behalf of the family. The church’s monthly prayer service will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Highland Village, Denton and Dallas Northway worship centers. We encourage you to fast throughout that day and join us to pray that evening. If you cannot join us, pray wherever you are.

We continue to rest in the knowledge that Matt is in the sovereign hand of our heavenly Father who loves him immensely more than we can comprehend, and He alone understands the reasons for this trial. Along with your prayers, continue to give Matt and Lauren and their family time and space for their continued rest.

Pray for Matt Chandler

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In light of my recent blog post, I thought I would pass along this request from Challies and Thabiti: Pray for Matt Chandler. Challies writes:

Keep Matt Chandler in your prayers: “I have a small mass In my frontal lobe,” Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas, wrote on his Twitter feed. “[I have a date] with the neurosurgeon early next week.”

Let’s lift this brother up and pray that God’s will is accomplished.