A major part of our ministry is prayer.
We pray for over 2800 people every evening. We also have a joint prayer time each morning
for our immediate family and many extended family. Father gave us this mantle and it has not
been a burden to carry but a joy! These
past few months a lot of our prayer focus has been on Colorado and other areas
of this country experiencing fires. In
Colorado they have had numerous fires burning many thousands of acres of land,
forests, and homes. Smoke has been in
the air constantly in different areas of Colorado for most of this year. As we prayed over family and friends in the
path of these fires, Father showed us His protective hand over those we were
praying for.
What an awesome responsibility some might say but we look at it as a
privilege to lay our loved ones at Father’s throne and to trust Him with
them. The scriptures we also pray daily
are Proverbs 3:5-6, the Prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:10)
and The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).
As we pray we rest in Father’s total and complete care of those whose
names we speak into His presence. I
wrote about prayer last year in March and I could not get away from Father’s
instructions to speak about prayer again now.
Why? Didn’t I say it all last
year! Not at all! So much has happened in this past year to
focus our attention on the need for prayer, those on our prayer list and the
power of prayer. We have seen lives
changed by prayer. We have seen healing
of physical bodies, healing of marriages and hearts, healing of emotions and
the spirit and we have seen families restored. We see the effects of constant,
consistent, faithful, unyielding, confident prayer. We add new names to our prayer list almost
daily and Father knows that no one is exempt from our prayers. When He gives people to us, they are on the
list and we pray for them until HE tells us to remove them or they go home to
be with HIM! Of course that is the
ultimate healing and restoration!
One day He will come for us and we will be with Him forever but for
today, for now, He has a plan and a purpose for our prayer ministry. I cannot tell you the excitement when we get
that call or email and we hear how our prayers have been answered. Our hearts
are lifted, our spirits soar, our lives are enriched beyond words just to pray
and trust Father with the dear ones He has given us. How is your prayer life? I am reading an amazing book sent to us by a
dear friend that tells about praying for strangers. When our friend told us she was sending the
book, she said, this is YOU! As I read though the book and listen to the
stories of the author’s encounters for prayer, I am in awe that our Father
works in such miraculous amazing ways to draw people to those willing to
pray. We have experienced it ourselves
but reading about the author’s encounters has refreshed me again to all that
has happened over the past 13 years of CKM.
May you be encouraged to make prayer a priority in your life! The Word of God is full of scriptures about
prayer. Pray believing and expecting and
you will see the Glory of God manifested through your prayer life and the
answers to your prayers. Our God hears
and He answers! We have confidence and
assurance! We pray and leave the results in Father’s hands!
Prayer is our
responsibility to God. It is addressing
God in word or thought involving these:
praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition and intercession. Father wants to fellowship with us.
Prayer is the means by
which believers communicate with God and receive guidance for their lives. Effective prayer depends on faith and a right
relationship with God.” Faith is
essential to prayer. “Asking for oneself and for others (intercessions) is an
important aspect of prayer.”
Intercession – seeking the
presence and hearing of God on behalf of others.
Meaning of Prayer and Intercession: “Therefore I exhort first of
all that supplications and prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight
of God our Savior” 1 Timothy 2:1-3
Prayer of believers for believers: “For this reason I bow my knees
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and
earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and
length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19
Prayer for Healing: Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for
the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in
the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord
will raise him up. And if he has
committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another,
and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much.” James 5:14-16
Prayer for the Lost
(Salvation): “Brethren, my heart’s
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” Romans 10:1
