prayer coach

A couple weeks ago I reviewed A Blessed Child by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright which was a fictional story about a pure vessel of God working miracles. The novel put a story around Dr. Bright’s teaching on Living Supernaturally in Christ. The two men co-labored a follow up to that novel with A Man Called Blessed which turned its focus on Dr. Bright’s teaching on Recapturing our First Love.

A Man Called Blessed picks up Caleb fifteen years after he left the world’s stage. He had grown up and became familiar with God. His familiarity led him to acknowledgment of devotion but inwardly removed from God. God was about to reawaken out desires with him.

Rebecca was a Jew committed to find the ark of the covenant, the place where the presence of God dwelt. All information pointed to Caleb as the link to finding the ark and bringing it back to Israel. Rebecca does not come to Caleb along, but instead followed by a band of Muslims bent on keeping hidden any hint of a potential ark.

Dekker and Bright succeed again producing another inspiring, page-turning story. This story will re-engage you to live as a child before God. Fall in love again and believe.

Quotes from A Man Called Blessed:

• There is no greater disaster in a spiritual life than to be immersed in a false reality.
• There is no greater disaster than to think that what we see with these eyes is the real life.
• Desire does not come from the mind, but from the heart. The hope that burns under the ashes of our poverty.
• Poverty is about clearing space in your heart so that God can fill it.

Just about 10 years ago all the Campus Crusade staff at the semi-annual staff conference received A Blessed Child by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright. It was my second conference, and I gladly received the book with all of the other giveaway items. Over the years I have read this book three time and each time I have found new fresh ideas to encourage my relationship with God.

Dr. Bright had said that he had some concepts he was trying to get across and felt that putting them into a story would distribute the message to a wider audience. The concepts he wanted to get across in the Blessed Child were the keys to the supernatural life that he wrote about in Living Supernaturally in Christ. Ted Dekker took the concepts and put together a story that is both exciting to read and inspiring to your faith.

This story revolves around a 10 year boy named Caleb. He was raised in an Ethiopian monastery, but the book picks up as he is rescued by an American and Canadian named Jason and Leah right before a deadly attack on his home. Caleb is taken to the United States where his pure faith becomes evident in miraculous answers to his prayers. As the book progresses, Caleb becomes tainted by the ways of the modern world and lessens his connection with God.

While this is going on there are struggles over custody of the boy, outside dangers, and wrestling with deep held beliefs. Each time I have read this book it has been hard to find a place to stop. Dekker masterfully ends each chapter making you want to keep reading to find out what will happen next.

image courtesy of the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I have been absent from the blog the last couple weeks due to having high fever then passing it to my wife. Having sickness run through my family caused me to think again what I really believe about healing.

Several years ago I read the Transferable Concepts by Bill Bright. Throughout many of the concepts Dr. Bright uses the verse:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15

The invitation is to read the Bible to find the will of God. As you ask God for those things that are His will, you can have confidence that God will give it to you. If you want God’s provision to love someone, you can have confidence with that request because you know that God has asked you to love one another (John 13:34). If you have someone that you would like to come to Christ, you can have confidence with those prayers as well because God wants none to perish but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

A few years after coming across these truths, I was confronted with my beliefs about addictions. I had a belief set in that there were some sins that were going to stay with Christians until we reach heaven. This was because there were some sins of addiction that were following me through the years. No matter how hard I prayed, the sin stayed. I took on the belief that I would never be free of the addiction.

In 1996 Dr. Bill Bright started yearly 40-day fasts for revival in our nation. His commitment to this discipline helped many like myself to consider partaking in this valuable gift of the faith. As I have mentioned before, I have completely bought into the benefits of the 40-day fast. I have not always done them with the commitment of national revival, but it always has the element of my own personal revival. This past Sunday I became aware of Chuck Colson and Jim Garlow’s call to fast and pray for our nation. It reawakened the desires that Dr. Bright embedded in me and reminded me of the similar call issued in 200. After a brief discussion with my wife, we agreed that it would be good for me to enter in.

I am under a personal belief that God has more for me. I have been extremely blessed with a loving, supportive, incredible wife, two amazing kids, a stimulating job, and a wonderful vision for my life. I could have never dreamed all this was possible, but it is here. At the same time, I don’t think God is through yet – with me or this nation. Fasting is a tool that has been given to us to ask, seek, and know for the more that God desires to give.

This fast has been called for September 20th – October 30th, 2010 in order to press God over the issues of the sanctity of human life, the sacredness of marriage and the preservation of religious liberty. I believe this nation is ready for the next great awakening and spiritual revival. The fast is a call to ask for it. Here is some of the wording on the prayandact.org website:

image courtesy of the The Call

This coming weekend thousands are joining in California’s capitol to pray for our nation. For the last 10 years The Call has been gathering people to pray and fast for our nation. Go to their site at thecall.com and see how you can join with other in prayer. Below are two videos encouraging you to participate: one from the co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, Mrs. Vonette Bright; the other is the Call’s promotional video. Whether you decide to join or not, please continue to pray for God’s blessings on this nation.

image courtesy of Campus Crusade for Christ

The last blog post on Royalty has had me thinking about my time with Campus Crusade. As you have been following this blog, you will know that I love Dr. Bright and Crusade. Both have had a significant impact on who I am and my outlook on life. As you learn the history of the organization and the early years, Crusade was going after the influential. When it first started, Dr. Bright was interacting with the athletes and campus leaders. Still in the early years, Crusade brought all their staff to California for the Berkeley Blitz to take Christ to the future leaders.

One of the things we were taught on staff was the principle of the powerful 1%. This taught that 1% of the population went to college and that these would be the future leaders of the world. If we could reach the college students today, we would in effect change the world.

I have been thinking about this because on staff many had a problem with going after leaders. “Jesus did not go to the leaders” was the common response. We needed to go to the poor and needy. Without going into the reasons why these are not true, I believe the reason so many have a hard time focusing on leaders is because of the concept of the pauper mentality.

Many Christians are living their lives with the belief that they have nothing to offer the leaders besides saving faith. When it comes to the real problems leaders face, we believe we have no resources to draw from. It is why we change Jesus command from making disciples of all nations to making disciples in all nations. Jesus came to create a revolution and transform society. We are looking to survive.

image courtesy of IwoJima.com

Lately I have been spending time at work helping train others. Some of the things I need to train them on are things that I had to learn for myself. I was dwelling on this today and realized this is the life we are supposed to live. We are called into a lifestyle of taking new ground so that others may come up behind and carry the baton even further.

We all have those who have gone before us that have helped paved the way for us to be who we are and where we are today. Our country exists because of those who have laid the sacrifice before us. In the picture above, only two of the five lived a week after it was taken. They claimed new ground that others may exceed where they had been.

Growing up my older brother also did this for me in a way. I would see the things he was able to do and came to the conclusion I also would be able to do it. If he hit home runs, then I would be able to hit home runs. If he did well in school, then I could do well in school. That is what an older brother is for. He shows you what can be done and you go exceed it.

Our goal in walking with Jesus is not to make spiritual superheros, but find those who have exceeded in taking new ground then follow their example to take it to new heights. George Müller was known for being a man who God answered his prayers. Therefore let’s find out what he did and apply it. The Moravians set up 24/7 prayer virgils that ran for 100 years and spawned hundreds of missionaries around the globe – the first large scale Protestant missionary movement. Let’s look to them to see how to recreate that type of spiritual movement.

When I was first on staff with Campus Crusade, we were trained to ask people the following question to initiate a gospel conversation: “Have you come to know the wonderful adventure of knowing God personally?” While I did know God personally, I lacked the experience of it being a wonderful adventure. Sure I was grateful for knowing my sins were forgiven and that I would enjoy eternity in heaven, there was still a little disconnect between eternity and the here and now besides just keeping me out of bad choices and a fall back when I did not know what else to do.

Looking back on my life and experiences, I can say that it is definitely a wonderful adventure. The things God had led me to do and go are for me exciting. As a quick example, I have been married for 13 years during which we have moved 10 times… with several month long stays in between. All this has come up in my mind again because next Monday we are moving yet again.

He may not make you move at all as you journey with Him, but I have found that He is unpredictable in His predictableness. I may count on His love and faithfulness, but the way He chooses to show them to me are rarely the same.

I believe the book of Joshua is a good example of how we are to live out this adventure. Joshua is one of the two spies that go into the promised land and comes back ready to take it. He knew God’s call for the Israelites and wanted to move forward in faith. Unfortunately he had to wait 40 years in the wilderness because of others unbelief. Finally, he gets the green light and also gets tapped to lead the people in. He gets the clear directive on how to cross the Jordan in the land. As they followed the clear directives, God miraculously stopped the flow of water. God was leading them into Canaan.