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.
Senior Pastor
Samuel Valverde
Over the years, people have asked me to define prayer and I have
come to understand that prayer means finding God's will for my
life. Every decision, every thought, every word spoken should
be done after we have asked for God's will in prayer. As the Lord
found himself in the garden of Gethsemane he knelt down and prayed:
"Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering
away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine" This prayer
illustrates that in his weakness and humanity, he was feeling
the weight of sin and death all over him and yet through prayer
he was able to declare emphatically "I want your will and
not mine" Simply put, prayer is a place where we find grace
and strength for our life. It is where we align ourselves to God's
will. It is a time to speak to God clearly and confidently and
ask him for direction and purpose. Prayer allows us to accept
God's will in all things. It is where everything becomes clear
and we hear his voice clearly and emphatically. John the beloved
disciple knew this voice, for he declares the words of Jesus in
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they
know me...
Sam Rojas
Assistant 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!
H.O.M.E Groups Pastor
Alex Santos
"…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!
Foundation Pastor
Bro. Philip Raya
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.
Fervent Worship Pastor
Bro. Julio Martinez
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!
New Converts Pastor
Bro. Joe Alvarez
|
|
