I recall in the early days of my youth trying to pray an hour. I thought prayer was simply praying for urgent needs. I would pray for the requests I heard mentioned at church. I prayed for Sis Sue’s nephew who had had an accident or Grandma Grace who was going in for surgery. After a while I would run out of requests pray for. As time went by and I grew in prayer, I realized that prayer was much more than asking. Prayer is for worship, communion with God, and receiving wisdom and understanding from Him.

Prayer includes worship. David wrote: “One thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4). The Hebrew word beauty means pleasantness, splendor, grace and favor. David referred to the beauty of God’s character as it was shown in the worship of God. In worshipping God in his sanctuary the character of God is seen as it is not seen elsewhere.

Our worship in prayer is adapted to set forth His greatness, glory, and grace. Great truths are brought to mind that lifts your spirit into the presence of God. You receive strength that sustains you in the trials of life. Begin your time of prayer with worship and you get God’s attention.
Prayer is communion with God. You find a great blessedness in prayer as you sense that shift in your spirit that allows you to know that He is listening. You have His ear to ask and receive answers. In this time you receive strength that stays with you. You go about your work and feel that strength of your time of communion with God all through your day.

Prayer is a time to receive wisdom and understanding from God. Wisdom says: “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord” (Pro. 8:34-36). James writes that if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. (1:5). In prayer we receive wisdom and understanding in making life decisions. During our intercession we can ask God for wisdom to discern what the real need is in the lives of people for whom we pray.

Prayer has many aspects. Intercession is just one facet of prayer. Learn to worship, to wait on God in communion and to seek Him for wisdom. Then your time of prayer will become more rewarding as you praise and adore Him for who He is. Since my early days of learning to pray, I have found the joy and worth of worship, communion and seeking God’s wisdom. I have not been disappointed in this dimension of prayer. I believe you will find this to be true in your life.

BOOK SUGGESTION: Mighty Prevailing Prayer by Wesley Duewell

~Cheryl Craft

TO THE EME REGION

Greetings in the name of Jesus–the Prince of Peace!

The Prayer Commission, working together with Bro. and Sis. Tuttle, would like to take this opportunity to urge each nation to set up some kind of special prayer and fasting during this time of crisis. We are truly living in unparalleled times and we hope this precipitates the coming of our Lord. It is probably safe to say that all of us are facing lifestyle changes in one way or another.

Below are some prayer points that you might want to distribute. Please feel free to translate them, as needed.

1. Pray that the worldwide Body of Christ will rise to the occasion and be a shining light to people and societies that are filled with fear. Pray that, in the midst of the fear, people will get desperate and turn to God and Truth.

2. Pray for backsliders to return to the fold.

3. It would be a tool of the enemy that as our churches go to online services, people would get lazy spiritually. We must exhort our people to guard against this. This is the time when their own personal walk with God will prove its value. Pray that any lack of personal spirituality will diminish and that saints will draw closer to God than ever before.

4. It is vitally important that ALL of us endeavour to stay connected–one way or another. We are not just talking about a social connection that can breed idle talk, fear and false reports, but a spiritual connection. Pray and work towards staying connected on a spiritual level with everyone in your circle of influence. If we ever needed to “lift one another’s hands”, it is now.

Our prayer is that there will be a massive harvest and that the rapture will then take place. In the meantime, may the church of the living God be all that it is meant to be–a beacon of light, hope and truth to a desperate world!

APRIL 2-3 are the dates set for our REGIONAL DAYS OF PRAYER. Can we ask EVERY nation to participate in this joint time of intercession? It’s time to bombard heaven with prayer from this region–from the east to the west and the north to the south! UNITY! UNITY! UNITY is our cry and prayer!

TOGETHER in Jesus Name,

EME PRAYER COMMISSION

visit: www.emeprayer.com

Facebook: EME Prayer Force

Struggling through the crowd, a woman reached out to touch Jesus.  Many people were pressing around him, and being weak she had to press her way in to get close to him. Other people and their problems hindered her way, keeping her from what she needed. Perhaps she had heard about others being healed by touching Jesus. Her need was great, and all she had was her faith and determination. She may have even had to get down on her hands and knees to crawl through the crowd; but she did not let the press of the crowd keep her from what she needed. Whatever she had to do, she did it.

This story mirrors what we often have to do in prayer.  When we enter our time of prayer, needs, fears, people, or worries prey on our minds and try to keep us from touching Jesus.  The crowd always tries to keep you from Him. This is the time to use your faith and determination to press through the crowd until you touch Him.

Verbally lay down the needs, people, and worries that trouble you.  Turn your mind over to the auspices of the Holy Spirit. Ask him to be active in your heart and mind.  Give yourself to worship. Read one or two choice scriptures that will bring quiet and faith to your mind.  Pray until you touch the hem of his garment that enshrines his prayer life, his love, and his healing power.  Whatever you need, you find it in Jesus when you touch him in prayer.

Let this year become the time that you persist and touch the hem of his garment in prayer to receive all you need from Him.

BOOK SUGGESTION:  My Daily Pursuit by A.W. Tozer

(Devotions for Every Day)

~Cheryl Craft

I climbed the hill behind our house yesterday for the second time.   It seemed steeper to me than I remembered.   As I climbed, I reminded myself of the story about  “The Tortoise and the Hare” which clearly shows us that the race is not to the swift, but to those who endure to the end. Panting for breath, I encouraged myself to keep climbing although my legs felt like lead. I used a reward of rest as incentive to finish the climb.  After several long minutes,  I reached a roadside memorial near the top of the hill. The simple stone column and two park benches  sat  among the vineyards and reminded all who passed  by  that Joseph Kolleman, 100 years ago,  had championed the cause of cultivating vineyards on the hills around our city.  I had never heard of him, but was glad to rest in the place his memorial provided.

I sat down on the bench, not thinking of vineyards, but of my present situation.  The cold wind was gusting against my back. I knew it was not a wind from the North Pole, but it seemed like it.  The simple gesture of pulling the hood of my parka over my head made me think of Elijah.   On a windy mountain, he also pulled his coat over his head.   Unlike Elijah, my wind was not as fierce, nor did I see fire, nor feel the earth quake.  Nevertheless, like Elijah, the still small voice came to me also.  

As He unfolded Elijah’s story to me, I realized that events had robbed me of my trust in God.   He showed me that His purposes and His heart were bound together with mine.  He allowed me to feel how much He loved me and let me know that in the total scheme of things I was important to Him.

As I sat looking over the valley and listening to the Lord, I recalled how He refreshed and revitalized Elijah.  God told him to anoint two kings and a prophet to succeed him in ministry.  He sent him back into the fray of life with three new tasks to perform.  To encourage him, God also told Elijah several thousand people were honoring their faith commitment and had not bowed their knee to the idols of the day.

As I rehearsed these events, weighing their importance to me at this moment in my life, I knew that God had subtly readjusted my thinking. Instead of doubting, I believed again.  Trust had found its rightful place. I felt refreshed, ready to continue the tasks to which He had called me.  In those few moments, He turned my mind from doubt to faith, and my heart from fear to trust.

It is easy to be sidetracked by life, especially by that segment of life we call people.  When threatened by evil, Elijah forgot that he was called of God for a specific purpose.  He ran to hide because of fear.  He forgot that with the purpose of God comes protection and power to complete the purpose.  I had also forgotten, but the still small voice reminded me of my purpose and the call.  He reminded me that I belonged to Him, and that His purpose always supersedes any plans that the enemy may devise.

The ability to hear the still small voice at any moment is why we must always maintain a climate of prayer in our hearts. Faithfulness in daily prayer and reserving time in that prayer to quietly sit in His presence, create a base from which God can speak to us.  I try never to leave my place of prayer without giving time for Him to speak to me.  I have learned that to hear His voice is the purpose of prayer.

Like Elijah, we may be strong and stand before the world declaring the Word of the Lord, or like him, we run away to hide in a cave when things go wrong.   We must leave the cave sometime, and to be able to hear the still small voice giving direction will make all the difference in the way we live the rest of our lives. It doesn’t matter if we are strong, weak, in top form, or in hiding.   What matters is that we are able to hear His voice.

Elijah walked down from the mountain with renewed energy to complete the tasks God called him to do.  I also walked down from my mountain refreshed, ready to continue walking in God’s purposes for me.  The cold wind I had faced walking up the hill seemed friendlier to me as I turned toward home.  Walking down the hill, I was again grateful that I knew how to pray and to hear the still small voice.

The still small voice tells us:  You have

a place in Me.  I have

                      a plan for you. It is your

                                      purpose-a reason for living.

A. C. Craft

Be real when you pray.  Let the real you show up to meet God.

Not the “you” you think people expect you to be.  Pray that God’s will for you becomes your desire.

~Cheryl Craft

Time spent with family and our church friends is necessary and beneficial.

Yet there are times we need to leave them behind and get alone with God.

What does it mean to us to be alone with God?

• To always be surrounded by others drains our strength. We have to be alone to regain consciousness of who we are and our purpose. In our aloneness we sense our weakness and dependence on God. We need time alone to maintain our Christian life and to renew our power to influence men for God.
• When we are alone with God we face spiritual realities. We withdraw from things that are seen to things that are unseen. We yield ourselves to the power of the heavenly realm and allow it to work in us. We consider the power of God: how he overcame the evil world and how we also can live free from sin in the power of God. In this time spent in God’s presence we are transformed and conformed to His likeness.
• In our time alone with God, we are refreshed in spirit. We meditate on His word taking it into our minds and spirit. We receive strength to witness to others of His goodness we have experienced after we have spent time alone with God.
• To be alone with God is a privilege. We examine ourselves and ask for his wisdom and strength. He imparts to us all that His Word means and gives guidance and direction to our lives. He works in a moment of time, but it takes us awhile to lay off cares and burdens and allow Him time to work in us as we wait on Him alone.

Our flesh is always in a hurry irritated and agitated by daily life. It takes time alone with God to lay our flesh aside and become quiet and calm before Him. We master our flesh and its tendency to rule our time, when we enter into our prayer closet and close the door.   I am reminded of this song we used to sing:

Shut in with God in a secret place.

            There in the spirit beholding His face.

            Gaining new power to run in this race.

            I love to be shut in with God.

Step out of this world and into eternity. Take time to be alone with God.

~Cheryl Craft