What is Prayer?

"Pray without ceasing." I Thes. 5:17
Prayer is simply me talking to God. Prayer is me listening to God's voice. He usually speaks softly. Prayer cultivates and enriches my relationship with my Lord. It is time spent with Him. To pray without ceasing means to pray continually. Therefore I can pray on my knees, while sitting, driving, walking or laying. It's my spiritual position that matters to him. Humble, obedient, reverent, and meek. The more I pray, the more I want to pray. The reverse is also true. If I don't feel like praying, then I will pray until I feel to do so. Prayer is not a feeling, it is an action. To some, prayer is only a duty. If that's you, continue your duty. To others, prayer is a discipline. If that's you, continue your discipline. To yet others, prayer is devotion. If that's you, continue your devotion. But to others, prayer is a delight. Fountain of Truth, let us strive to reach this level.

Samuel Valverde
Senior Pastor


"Many of us make the mistake of thinking that prayer takes time, but truthfully, prayer saves time!"
Too Busy to Pay Attention
In Exodus 5:5-9, Pharaoh told the taskmasters to impose harder labor on the men of Israel, so that their desire to spend time with the Lord in the desert would be deterred: "Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people, saying, 'You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the quota of bricks…you are not to reduce any of it…. Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.'" (Ex. 5:5 9)
Those "false words" would be the words of God through Moses, but, of course, to Pharaoh they would be "false." To the people of God, they would be precious, a life-giving & sustaining source. No wonder Pharaoh wanted to cut them off!
Today's society tries to make us feel guilty or lazy if we take a break. But we are encouraged to "be still and know that He is God" (Ps. 46:10). We have to take time to hear God!
Sometimes our devotions can become routine, just another assignment. If we labor excessively, just like the people of God in Egypt, our ears become dull. We no longer hear God's promises, and then we can't believe for them!
At that point we're active and moving forward without a true destination. Beware! Don't make the mistake of being busy without a purpose.
Take Time to Save Time
Even if we take just 15 minutes, we should take time with the Lord and ask Him what He wants to say to us, what He is calling us to do. Take a pen, a pad of paper and ask God what you need to improve on or what your plan should be.
Praying saves time! Because then God can help us with our plan. He will start giving us divine assignments instead of just tasks. If you're getting bogged down or are struggling with procrastination, you aren't praying enough.
'And let these words that I've prayed in the presence of GOD be always right there before Him, day and night, so that he'll do what is right for me, to guarantee justice for his people Israel day after day after day.'
1 Kings 8:59 (the message)
When my heart whispered, "Seek God," my whole being replied, "I'm seeking him!"
Psalms 27:8
If you need a time of ministry, go and kneel down before the Lord. And listen!

Alex Santosr
Care Pastor


"…So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there had been no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man." JOSHUA 10:13-14
A 35 hour day, did the earth ceasing to revolve, did the moon momentarily stop its orbiting? Truly, science cannot support the facts of this event. Others argue it may be figurative language symbolic of a long day of battle. How can nature literally pause so a group of people could win a war? The answer is found in the next verse: A MAN LIFTED HIS VOICE and God hearkened. This story (which inspired me personally to pray as a youth) is emblematic of the power of prayer-God intervening changing the course of nature, the laws of science, or the direction of man due to a prayer being lifted. It is said, "Prayer combines man's weakness with God's omnipotence". Listen to the words of Jesus, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain 'move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (MATTHEW 17:20-21).
God always responds to faith. Prayer strengthens our faith converting it from knowing about God to knowing God. A mustard seed is a small particle that has the capacity to grow into a huge tree. Prayer changes our faith from enduring trials (moving mountains) to living in impossibilities. When living a life a prayer your faith wakes you up in the morning expecting blessings and favor instead of just trying to bear life's struggles. We have yet to experience the "nothing shall be impossible" stage because we are constantly looking to just move our mountains. FTC, can we see-through the eye of faith-the wonders, provision, and healings God wants to give? It will come when we commit ourselves to "praying without ceasing" altering our faith. If God can withhold a day He can surely give you the miracle you need! Like Joshua, God will incline His ear to prayer!

Phili[ Rayar
Community Pastor

When "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" first aired, I was fascinated by the show. The concept of dealing with life's simple questions and gradually moving on to the more difficult questions intrigued me. I thought that if you answered as many of the easier questions as possible on your own, without using your lifelines, that you'd stand a better chance of making it to the final question, having your lifelines intact and available for the most difficult questions. Using this strategy however, many people blew it on a relatively easy question and lost it all; they were out of the game. One contestant in particular, made it to the final question using only two of his three lifelines. He used his last lifeline, in which he could call a friend, to call his dad and tell him that he was going to be a millionaire! The key to winning the game was to strategically use the lifelines, since there were only three available.
While thinking on this one day, I realized that this game is very comparable to our walk with Christ. When we begin, when we are newly reborn, the facts of life and the challenges that we face are relatively simple. As we grow and mature in our walk with Christ however, sometimes some are faced with more difficult questions than others, facts of life that might appear simple to some, we find daunting. Decisions or situations come our way that we can barely comprehend - much less hope to have the correct answer to.
"How do I overcome this? What should I do in this situation? Why have you taken this loved one away from me? Are you real? Do you really love me? Can you really forgive me after all I've done? Should I move or should I stay? What is my place in you? Will I live or will I die?"
The questions come in all shapes and sizes, but unlike the TV show, God has given us unlimited lifelines. He has given us prayer, fasting, His Word, His righteousness, assurance of salvation, faith and hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the enemy comes to tempt you, the Word of God is sharper than a two edged sword! When you are faced with a mountain high trial, a mustard seed of faith will move it out of your path! When doubt tries to question what you believe, the helmet of salvation protects your mind against the idiosyncrasies of this world! When you find yourself falling short of God's glory, His righteousness reminds you that if you have been baptized into Christ, you have put on Christ and that in Christ you are a new creature, a new creation, and therefore there is no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. If there is ANYTHING that seems too hard to handle, too hard to understand, you do not have to have all the answers, you have JESUS on the mainline, and you can ask him whatever it is that you need an answer to with full knowledge that he knows what you need before you even ask!! Imagine if you were to play "Millionaire," but the host told you that you can use your lifelines as many times as you'd like. How do you think you'd do? In Christ we too have a prize to win, and it is not one million dollars. We strive for a crown! We strive for the master's reward, and we have unlimited access to our lifelines!
Don't give your final answer based on a guess, and risk losing all you've strived for. Bend your knees and get Jesus on the mainline and ask him what you want.

Bro. Julio Martinez
Minister


Prayer is a set of words addressed to God, could be a set of words of Adoration, a set of words of Thanksgiving, or a set of words of Confession, and my all time favorite is a set of words addressed to God in the form of Pleading. Through the years of being a Dad, I have seen my own children address words to me in these different forms, but what is awesome is that I have known their need way before they addressed there Plead, Confession, Thanksgiving, or Adoration towards me. So if we as earthly Fathers can do this for our children, how much more our Heavenly Father towards us.
Be encouraged He is listening!

Joe Alvarez
Minister