Jesus Earnestly Desires Communion

Saints, 

Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus “earnestly desires” intimacy with you. Think about it. This is a profound thought. The Most High Creator God of the universe who exists outside our physical limitations desires to be close to you. Lets’ think through this a little today.

To begin, we will need to define intimacy. The American College dictionary defines intimacy as “personally close or familiar association.” I think Jesus’ definition, however, is more appropriate for our discussion today. Jesus defines the kind of closeness He desires in His prayer for us found in John 17:20-23 as the same oneness that Jesus Himself has with the Father. As we have looked at before,

John 17:20-23 (ESV)
²⁰ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Okay, wait a minute. How close is that? Is that as close as man and wife? I submit to you that this is even closer than man and wife. Yes, a man and wife can “know” each other physically and for the most part, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Even so, God knows us completely. He knows all.

He loves.

Let’s look at another passage where we see a glimpse into Jesus’ desires. In Luke 22 we find Jesus looking forward to the Passover meal with His apostles.

Luke 22:14-16 (ESV)
¹⁴ And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him.
¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
¹⁶ For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus earnestly desired to eat this meal with them. What does this mean? Jesus, as all-knowing God, and fully man desired to eat with men. He not only desired--He earnestly desired. This means Jesus earnestly “set His heart upon” this connection with His apostles.

Do you remember the story of Martha and Mary? Remember that the role of a woman in the culture of Jesus’ day was to serve. Even so, Jesus clearly says that Mary chose the “best” thing by sitting at Jesus feet (not serving) and listening to the savior. (I love how Jesus is constantly re-defining reality. He defines the role of women and therefore culture. He defines eternal life. He defines intimacy.)

Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)
⁴¹ "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
⁴² but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

So, what is the point? Why does this matter? I submit to you that our intimacy with Jesus is the very essence of life—out of this intimacy flows everything God desires for this world. Out of intimacy with Christ, flows the obedience of the Christ-follower. Out of this intimacy with Christ flows witnessing, prayer, a passion for God’s Word, disciple making, repentance, and holiness. In other words, intimacy with Christ is life. Jesus said this Himself,

John 14:6 (NIV)
⁶ Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

Jesus is life. Knowing Jesus intimately is eternal life, as we see in John 17:3. Again, we find Jesus defining something in John 17—this time He defines eternal life. “What is eternal life?”

John 17:3 (NIV)
³ Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

We agree. Jesus earnestly desires us. Jesus defines eternal life as knowing Him and knowing the heavenly Father. Let’s drive this home a little more by looking at what life is not. Life is not family. Life is not vocation. Life is not Church attendance. Life is not vacation. Life is not fulfilled dreams. Life is knowing Jesus and the heavenly Father, period. Why is it so easy to forget this?

Judith Hougen offers some help here in her book, Transformed Into Fire, p 125.

“…the people of God through the ages have repeatedly said “no” to God’s invitation for intimate communion. Affirming our belovedness means receiving into our meager frames the fiery passion of God. Perhaps we intrinsically understand that becoming God’s beloved will demand everything, will altar everything, and we shrink back from such overwhelming and all-consuming affection.”

Let’s ask the question, “Why does this intimacy with Jesus matter so much?” I agree with Andrew Murray on this point—others will model our walk with Christ. So, if everyone you know completely emulated your walk with Christ, what would their lives look like? What would their prayer lives look like? How much would they share the gospel? How much would they deeply commune with Jesus? How much would they dig into the word of God? How would God be using them to make disciples?  

As Andrew Murray explains this from his book, The True Vine, Meditations on John 16:1-16,

“Fruit reveals the nature of the tree from which it comes. What is the secret of bearing fruit that abides? The answer is simple. It is as our life abides in Christ, as we abide in Him, that the fruit we bear will abide. The more we allow all that is of human will and effort to be cut down short and cleansed away by the divine husbandman, the more intensely our being withdraws itself from the outward that God may work in us by His Spirit. That is, the more wholly we abide in Christ, the more our fruit will abide.” 

So, our intimacy with Jesus is a model for others—amen.

Father, please help us chase after intimacy with you. May we earnestly desire communion with You as You desire this with us. Make us the fruit that will encourage others toward a deeper relationship with You. We ask all of this for Your glory--all of this for Your kingdom to grow.

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve

Why Did they Fast and Pray?

Saints, 

Why did they fast and pray?

The Christ followers at Antioch gathered together and fasted and prayed.

Acts 13:1-4 (NIV)
¹ In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
⁴ The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

What causes a faith-family to fast and pray? What led to this? Was there a problem in their fellowship? Why would they all come together in worship and choose to pray and fast?

This reminds me of Daniel. You have to admit, Daniel was a man of prayer. Even with the threat of losing his life—he chose prayer. Doesn’t this surprise you? Do we, like Daniel think that prayer is that real or important or life-changing to choose it over our next breath?

Something caused Daniel to pray for 21 days.

Daniel 10:2-3 (NIV)
² At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
³ I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

“Why would Daniel fast, mourn, and pray for 21 days?” If you are like me, you may be wondering at this point, “Is there anything that would cause me to fast and pray? Is there anything in this world that would drive me to fast and pray for 21 days?” I hope as we look at these two passages and ask these pointed questions that God would reveal to you and me how our faith practice might be different from the early believers in Antioch and from Daniel.

Please don’t misunderstand me—I am not saying that we have to copy or seek to re-live every activity of the first century church. But, we should demonstrate the dependence on Christ and the Holy Spirit that the first century church demonstrated through corporate prayer. As an “any-century” church—we absolutely must have the heart of Jesus Christ.

The point I am trying to make is that I believe as a whole, the desperation of the church at Antioch and the desperation of one of my heroes—Daniel has grown cold in the church today. Simply put, we don’t fast and pray today because we don’t believe that we need to fast and pray. Why do we need to?

As for Daniel, I can imagine his heart during those 21 days crying out to God, “He may have said, “God, You must hear me!” or “I am undone.” I can imagine the heart of the Antioch church in their praying and fasting as they looked at an unreached world and so desperately wanted and needed God to empower them to make a difference—to reach their world somehow.

Is our situation any different? Brother’s and sister’s if our heart was more like Jesus’ heart. If we embraced the purpose of the church as God gave it to us—to be God’s witnesses, to make disciples, to spread the gospel locally and globally. Then, we would be driven to pray and fast like Daniel and like the church at Antioch—how could we not?

I realize that these words are tough today, trust me; these thoughts are hard on me, too. Even so, I submit to you that as a whole, we the 2011 Christian church has lost something. Yes, we do church, but we do it as comfortably as we can, with as little sacrifice as possible.

This is not Jesus' plan. Remember how Jesus pointed out the widow as she gave her mite to the treasury.

Luke 21:1-3 (NIV)
¹ As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.
² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.
³ "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

This is more than a simple commentary by Jesus on finances. We should be giving like the widow gave. She gave all.

Daniel gave all. The Antioch church was waiting on God—there was reason to wait on God. They had no other choice. Somehow we seem to have come up with another choice. We seem to try to serve God in a different way, a less God-dependent way.

Brothers and sisters—may God teach us to rely on Him as the church at Antioch did. May God teach us to cry out to him in prayer like Daniel. May our service and sacrifice move from marginalized and limited to all-encompassing.

Yes, there is a battle raging all around us. It is unseen. May the Father open our eyes to the spiritual battle and how He desires to use us, even spend our lives on His purposes.

To help describe our point today, let’s look at what one seminary professor described as two possible life-positions —I believe that Daniel and the Church at Antioch both fall into the second category. The question is, “Which category are we in?”

1) “The enemy of our soul has convinced me that I am the king of life. The result of this is the pursuit of visible illusions which will wither and die.”

2) “Jesus came to proclaim Himself as King of life. If I embrace Him as my King, I will give my life to the pursuit of invisible reality which is growing and eternal.”

Father, please forgive us for our apathy which is demonstrated by prayerlessness and even our lack of fasting. Father, we truly are desperate for You like the Antioch church. If we are honest we would admit that we should be praying and fasting like they did—waiting on you. Please. Holy Spirit, convict and cause us to repent. Please God revive, awaken your church. Please make us like Daniel. Please teach us to pray—to be in you, that we will live in You. Please use us to reach a world for Christ. In Jesus Name and with His heart, we pray, amen.      

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve

Two Possible Prayer-Lives

Saints, 

Today, let’s look at two possible “prayer-Life” scenarios. By the way, I love the term “prayer-life.” This term implies that our lives can be described or defined by prayer—yes, may our lives be defined by much prayer to a personal, loving, forgiving, just, magnificent, amazing God. However, we must realize that prayer is not the end-all. If we are Christ-followers who are given to much prayer, it is because we have a solid faith in the most-high God. We trust Him. We believe Him. We know Him—not merely know about Him. So much can be said here about prayer, but we need to move on.

Please know that these suggested scenarios are not the only prayer-life possibilities. Even so, they will serve to help us think about where we are with prayer in comparison to these two possibilities.

The first “prayer-life” scenario

Yesterday I visited a podiatrist for an issue with my foot. He examined my foot and prescribed some medicine and shoe inserts. After some time passes I will return for another visit so that he can asses how things are going and determine if surgery is necessary. Although, this visit had nothing to do with prayer, sometimes, our prayer lives can resemble this. It is possible to only go to our loving Father in prayer when we need some kind of help. In other words, we neglect connecting with God unless we (ourselves) are in need. This is illustrated by the fact that I have only visited a podiatrist once in almost 47 years.

This kind of prayer is more self-oriented and certainly not daily. It is an “only-when-we-need-God” type of prayer—very “me” centered.

You may say, “Well, isn’t all prayer some kind of request from God?”  It does seem that needs drive our connecting with God in prayer. He does love us and will hear these prayers. But, our prayers do not have to only be this kind of prayer. This brings us to our second prayer-life scenario.

The second prayer-life scenario

We will need to get a running start at this, please stay with me. First of all, prayer is not a fad. Prayer is not a movement. Please forgive me if I have somehow communicated that prayer is some kind of spiritual tool in our Christian tool bag. No, dear friends, prevailing, true prayer is Bible-based, Spirit-led, kingdom-centered, communion with our heavenly father.  I am convinced this kind of prayer is not about us—it is centered or is oriented on Christ. We will take a look at this kind of prayer-life scenario in the form of a walk or journey with God in prayer.

First, let’s start with the Holy Spirit, remember without the Holy Spirit, Peter only had a strong desire to follow Christ which ended in three denials. After He was given the Holy Spirit like we have the Holy Spirit, Peter went on to be powerfully used by God to grow the church (remember last week, the purpose of the church as assumed from Acts is to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth). Back to prayer, the Holy Spirit leads us to pray and helps us to know what to pray for.

Romans 8:26 (ESV)
²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

So, we start with the Spirit. Then, we continue our prayer journey with an orientation of desiring God’s glory, just like Jesus taught His disciples to pray.

Luke 11:2 (ESV)
² And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

We continue our prayer journey by praying in Jesus name. Remember Jesus repeats the promise to pray in His name or according to His will six times in the farewell discourse passage found in John chapters 14 through 16.

So, what does this mean? Do we pray for whatever we want and then tack on “In Jesus Name” and like magic God grants our wish? No this is not what Jesus meant. I love how the author of The Kneeling Christian describes praying in Jesus name,

“To pray in His name is to pray in His character, as His representative sent by His will. It is to pray by His Spirit and according to His will. It is to have His approval in our asking, to seek what He seeks, to ask help to do what He Himself would wish to be done, and to desire to do it not for our own glorification. But for His glory alone. To pray in His name we must have identity of interests and purpose. Self and its aims and desires must be entirely controlled by God’s Holy Spirit, so that our wills are in complete harmony with Christ’s will.” P. 70

So, in our second prayer-life scenario, we empty ourselves of our desires, our dreams and we are led by the Spirit to cry out for our Father’s desires. We find ourselves echoing the Truth found in His Word—His Word is Truth. Note the following progression from God’s Word…

Ephesians 6:17 (ESV)
¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

John 1:1 (ESV)
¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 14:6 (ESV)
⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, we see the Spirit which leads our prayer is the Word of God. The Word is Jesus. And finally we see that Jesus is the Truth. Praise God!

Before we continue on with the prayer-life scenario, please note that Paul instructs the church at Ephesus, after they put on the full armor of God to run to battle and slay the enemy right? No, the very first thing they (and we) are to do after we put on the armor is pray. As my missionary friend said, “Prayer is the work.”

Moving on, As we pray in this manner, our hearts our changed—we find ourselves desiring God more. We find ourselves desiring other things less. Hosea helps us with this point—it is always the right time to chase and run after a deeper relationship with God.

Hosea 6:3 (ESV)
³ Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

This prayer-life continues. By the way, which prayer-life scenario do you prefer? Is it too soon to make a choice? We pray seeking God’s glory, in Jesus’ name (His character in us), by the Spirit’s leading, immersed in the Word—which is Jesus, as we are transformed through this prayer process to desire God and His purposes to be done on earth more. Then like David, we realize that nothing on earth is more valuable to us than the Father,

Psalms 73:25 (ESV)
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

Now, it gets good, at this pint we begin to sense our hearts ache. You may say, “So, I pray and then I will hurt—great.” Dear saint hang with me, Yes, we begin to have the very heart of God—what grieves Him, grieves us. What brings God joy, causes us to rejoice. This ache will begin to drive our prayer. Caution: this can be detrimental to your health. It was to John Hyde. It was to Daniel.

Daniel 9:2-3 (ESV)
² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Unless I am mistaken, Daniel went on to pray 21 days straight. This was not for himself. This was compelling, driven, consuming prayer for God’s purposes, and for God’s people. It cost him—he was empty. It took a visit not just from an angel, but from the Archangel Gabriel, whom God sent to him to aid him.

Daniel 10:8-14 (ESV)
⁸ So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength.
⁹ Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.
¹⁰ And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
¹¹ And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.
¹² Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.
¹³ The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,
¹⁴ and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

Really, can prayer be like this? Yes, friends, it can. I submit to you that we all should seek God like Daniel did. Why not? Is He not worth it? Is He not worthy of our all in prayer? Do we not see the need for prayer in our lives, churches, families, and nations just like Daniel saw the need for prayer. Yes. Yes. Yes.

We continue. We begin to see the real battle. It is not merely a political battle—God has used that scene for His churches benefit for 2,000 years. It is not merely a physical battle. It is a spiritual battle fought from our knees—please embrace this dear saint.

Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)
¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

In addition, as we journey in prayer, the Spirit teaches us that prevailing prayer like Elijah prayed, is effective.

James 5:16-18 (ESV)
¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Along the prayer–life path we realize more and more clearly that this life is not about us. We begin to see more clearly that prayer is not about us. Prayer is absolute surrender. Prayer is trust. Prayer is faith. Prayer is worship. Yes, friends, we are transformed in prayer because like Moses, we have been in the presence of God. We see this in Acts, as the religious leadership recognized that Peter and John had been with Jesus. Also note the bold assertion they make in verse 12.

Acts 4:12-13 (ESV)
¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Deeper in prayer, we begin to align our lives and hearts with the heart of our savior, as He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father.

Romans 8:27 (ESV)
²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Hebrews 8:1 (ESV)
¹ Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,

One very important element in the journey is that we will as Isaiah was, be confronted with our sin as we draw closer to our Father in prayer.

Isaiah 6:5 (ESV)
⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Saints, let us be reminded to chase after God in prayer, in true, prevailing, effective, Spirit-led prayer. If you can relate to the first scenario as your practice, I encourage you to change that today. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. We are in a battle. May we take up our armor and hit our knees—this is a true prayer-life.

Father, please forgive us for our prayerlessness as it demonstrates our declaration of independence from You. No, Father, we will not live another day relying on our abilities to accomplish what we think is your work. Please. Holy Spirit, convict and cause us to repent. Please God revive, awaken your church. In Jesus Name, we pray, amen.      

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve

What is the Purpose of the Church?

Saints, 

What is the purpose of the church?

I love what David Platt teaches in his sermon entitled Unstoppable. He shares that based on the example of the church in Acts, our assumed purpose is to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth.

The purpose of the church is to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth.

He continues to explain that this means that our purpose as believers is not to merely attend church. Our purpose as believers is not to merely have a good family. Our purpose is not to merely have a good marriage. Our purpose as believers is not to have a healthy spiritual well-being. Our purpose is not to have good health.

Please don’t misunderstand me, these things are good—we should pursue them, but they our not our driving purpose. Our purpose is to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Let’s wrestle with this a bit today. Let’s take this idea before the Lord. Let’s ask God to show us if our lives truly line up with this kind of thinking. 

Dear friend, please answer honestly.

What is your life passion? What is the most important driving force in your life?

My answer is different today than four years ago. I praise God for His amazing grace in my life! What is your answer? Honestly? If you are an American citizen, you may have a retirement-oriented answer. If you are from Uganda, maybe you desire a “better life.” An Asian person might desire to be rid of shame. An Iranian, might desire to have religious freedom. Some simply desire enough food for another day.

What is your driving desire?

Friend, may our life purpose be centered in Christ. When asked to teach his disciples to pray, Jesus gave us the answer…Heavenly Father, may Your name be glorified, and may Your kingdom come. Our prayers and our lives should focus on Him. This begins in each of our hearts. Our ultimate satisfaction will come from our utter surrender to this purpose. Somehow, we don’t really believe this. Remember, we live what we believe. The evidence of our lives seems to support that we hang on to stuff, plans, and other purposes. Friends, let’s take Jesus’ instruction on prayer seriously.

Let this simple illustration help us see our own hearts…

How much do you think of God?

Do you think of God much beyond Sunday? Or even beyond Sunday morning? If not, then you have a “divided” heart. God does not allow Himself to be found by those with divided hearts.

Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV)
¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

This brings up another question, “Do we want more of God?” Or, are we satisfied with how much we have of God right now?

We seem to gravitate toward security, safety, comfort zone, and comfortableness. I submit that Jesus calls us to something completely different. Yes, we have security, but an entirely different security than we spend our lives seeking. Jesus gives eternal security, we seem to want a “here and now” security.

In his book Radical, David Platt explains,

“The reward of the American dream is safety, security, and success found in more comfort, better stuff, and greater prosperity. But the reward of Christ trumps all these things and beckons us to live for eternal safety, security, and satisfaction that far outweigh everything this world has to offer us.” P172-173

“Though you and I find ourselves surrounded by the lure of temporary pleasure, we must fasten our affections on the one who promises eternal treasure that will never spoil or fade. If your life or my life is going to count on earth, we must start by concentrating on heaven. For then, and only then, will you and I be free to take radical risk, knowing that what awaits us is radical reward.” P179   

“The danger in our lives will always increase in proportion to the depth of our relationship with Christ.” P167

Sometimes we act like we don’t want a deep relationship with Christ. If this is where you are today, I pray that God will show you how truly satisfying He really is. Friends, Jesus is life--He alone satisfies. If you do not believe this it is because the enemy has done a good job of deceiving and distracting.

Friends, our hearts can beat for Jesus. Let’s ask Him right now to fill us with a passion for Him. Let’s ask God that our whole being will love Him more than everything—ourselves, our jobs, our families (yes, even our families), our future, even our next breath. (Remember Daniel chose praying over breathing.) This is a prayer He will answer.

Remember the assumption from Acts…

The purpose of the church is to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth.

As Jesus explained, He is to be our priority…

Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)
²⁸ And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

I submit to you, we have forgotten our first love. Let’s return to Him. Please let the “here and now,” the temporary, or simply the stuff-that-is-going-to-burn drop off our plates. We don’t have time for those pursuits. The cost is too high. Souls are at risk. May every day of our lives be spent on God’s kingdom for His glory—advancing the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Father, please grant us undivided hearts for You. Spend our lives on Your purposes. Glorify Your name in our lives, in our families, in our churches, in our jobs, and in our countries. Teach us to pray like Daniel did with arresting purpose and passion effectively impacting Your kingdom. Please help us to practice Your presence. Make us obey radically. In Jesus name and in the very character of God, Amen. 

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve