Warring and waiting.
You ask….
Is that prayer unanswered or does God want me to wait for the answer?
How do I know if I need to continue praying or if I need to say that God’s grace is sufficient and leave it be?

I can offer some questions to help you figure out what God is expecting in each instance:

Have you really asked?
“you have not because you ask not”
Is there unconfessed or unrepented sin in your life?
(John 15:7)
Are you holding grudges or do you have an unforgiving spirit?
“ When you stand praying., forgive” and “If you do not forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive.” (Mark 11:25,26)
Are you praying according to God’s will?
(John 16:24) -

Daniel was an awesome example of a prayer warrior. He prayed at least three times a day. He was given visions and dramatic wisdom when asked of God. But Daniel 10 talks about a time Daniel was frustrated by unanswered prayer. He didn’t pray once and quit. For three weeks he sought an answer, but none came. He fasted and mourned. But there was no answer.
No answer came from the God that saved his buddies Shadrak, Meshack and Abendigo from the firey furnace. Daniel knew that God was able to answer him. He had faith that God would give an answer. He wanted wisdom and to understand something so he knew that it would be God’s will that he have the answer. But he had to wait three long weeks to get the understanding he needed.

Gabriel came because God heard his prayers, but the devil had prevented Gabriel from delivering those answers. What would have happened if Daniel had given up?

Believers have the Holy Spirit within them. 1 John 5:14-15 - NKJV
Says;

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, 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 the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

But the devil still roams and answers are still prevented unless the believer persists in prayer.

I am also reminded of the blind man who came to Jesus to be healed. Jesus spat and put his hands on the man’s eyes, but the man’s sight was only partially restored. (“I see men as trees walking.” Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes and made him look up before he was able to see. Was it that Jesus couldn’t heal the man the first time around – or did the man need time or multiple healings before he coulds see?
The Bible doesn’t say why this happened just that it did. If the blind man needed several ‘touches’ from Jesus sometimes those who are sick that we pray for need multiple ‘touches’ too. At this point the prayers change, If we were praying for this blind man we maybe would have to pray that his eyes would be restored to health. Then when he still couldn’t see we would have to pray that the mind of the blind man could understand what he was seeing. We don’t know –but if this man had ever seen, how would he know what he was looking at without special help?

There are multiple reasons to not give up praying until you receive an answer. Once you’ve received the answer the prayer is done. God’s will is done. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But until that time keep warring and waiting!!

Aligning
Aligning your prayers with God is different than confession. Confession is agreeing with God that He is God and you are a sinner in need of a savior. Aligning is a step of reasoning with God until you can pray in His will.
Isaiah 1:18 says: (AS)
"Come now, and let us reason together,"
Says the LORD,
"Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.

We recently sang a song in church with the words: “It’s all about you, Jesus.” By the term ‘aligning’ I mean our prayers need to be focused to what Jesus wants. We are bringing a situation to the Father – but we are praying in Jesus name. We should be praying that HE will be gloried and His will be done. But we don’t always know or understand or want what Jesus wants. So the first thing that we have to do in effective prayer is to focus ourselves to what Jesus wants in each situation.
Preachers around the turn of the 20th Century (R.A. Torreyhttp://www.freewebs.com/ratorrey/ and E.M. Boundshttp://www.prayerfoundation.org/prayer_tips_e_m_bounds.htm) called this process “praying through”. This isn’t praying until God gives in and does something your way. It means praying until you have the ability to understand and pray according to His purposes. Jesus has promised that if we pray according to His Will (in His name) we will receive what we ask.
John 16:23
"In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.
John 16:24
"Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
John 16:26
"In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf;

We also know that we often do not have answered prayers because we pray not according to God’s will:

James 4:3
You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

As members of the prayer chain, we pray for requests as they are made and we should pray as the person requests. However, the Lord has an ultimate purpose in everything that goes on. As you pray and discuss the person or situation with our Lord, listen to His responses and adjust your praying accordingly. It is true that we must first learn to listen to God’s prompting before we can have a two-way conversation.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus gives us the best example of aligning our prayer. Jesus had come to earth to die on the cross. He KNEW his father’s will. He was and would be obedient to what God the father had planned to do. But at one point either the human instinct of self preservation took over him or more likely the thought of HIS father turning his back on Jesus became too much. Jesus had always known and communicated with his father. They are one. But at one point in history the Heavenly Father had to turn his back on the Son as our sins were placed on Him because God can’t look on sin.
Jesus had come to earth for this purpose — he was made to be sin so that we could experience eternal life. He loved his disciples, he loves you and he KNEW what must be done in order to bring salvation to the world. But a few hours before the crucifixion Jesus prayed to the Father,
Mark 14:36 (AS)
And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."

Jesus was without sin and so this prayer, asking God to allow him not to follow through with God’s eternal plan, was not a sin. It wasn’t an answered prayer either. (Thank you, Father!)
Mark 14, Luke 22 and Matthew 26 all report the story. Each state that Jesus agonizes over this. He prays and agonizes, and then sees that his disciples are asleep. He wakes them and rebukes them.
The first time he wakens them: Mark 14:34 (AS)
And He *said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch."

And the second time Jesus wakens the sleeping disciples:
Mark 14:37-38 (AS)
And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?
"Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

He asks them to watch with him. Then he goes away and does the same thing again. The third time he prays and comes to wake the disciples, but something has changed. He has changed.

Matthew 26:45 (NAV)
“Then cometh he to the disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

Mark 14:41 (NAV)
“And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough; the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

The change is quiet and might be missed. But it is profound. Jesus is no longer agonizing or feeling stressed. He has peace. The time has come. He can share the peace with his disciples. If you noticed that I changed versions of the Bible, I did it because the change is so quiet that you may not catch it in your version,
The disciples didn’t have much time to sleep and the significance of what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane often goes unnoticed.
Jesus never committed a sin, yet he had to align himself with the father. How much more, then, do we have to agonize and pray that God’s will is done! As Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
1 Corinthians 2:9-16 “…but just as it is written, ‘THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.’ Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”

God promises to search out all things and reveal to us the wonderful things that he has for us. The problem is: How do we get to a place where we can accept His perfect will?

Alighting
Dutch Sheets http://www.dutchsheets.org/ called this type of praying “butterfly praying”. The term seems a bit fanciful for me, but it describes how one goes in to the process of the alignment prayer. The term refers to praying ‘hit and miss’ — fluttering around the prayer situation.
If you don’t know God’s will or you do know God’s will as Jesus did, but you can’t accept His will, God still wants you to pray about it. Begin by telling him why you don’t agree. Pray what you know from Scripture about the final outcome of the circumstances. Discuss with the Lord what you know about the situation or person. Give thanks for the person and God’s love for them. Give thanks for what the Lord is bringing about in the person’s life. Pray that the person can accept the good of what is happening.
Philippians 4:6
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Everything includes the good and the bad. Tell God what stinks, what hurts, what makes you angry. Pray around the situation until you can pray with confidence, “Let Your will be done.”

Romans 8 shows us that God’s sent us his Holy Spirit to help us when we do not know how to pray:

Romans 8:25-28 (AS)
But if we hope for that which we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for it.
And in like manner the Spirit also helps our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself make intercession for [us] with groanings which cannot be uttered;
and he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to [the will of] God.
And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, [even] to them that are called according to [his] purpose.

As you pray around the situation usually you come to a place where you have peace about what you are praying. I call this ‘finding the key”.

John 9:31
We know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do his will, him he hears.

Enlightening

Some people might call this enlightening. When God sheds his light on the subject, when you have peace that what is being prayed for is God’s perfect will, then you know that the prayer will be answered.
If we know that he hears us than we know that we will receive.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Here are some verses to review.
James 5:16
1 Chr. 21:8
1 Peter 3:7
Numbers 9:23
Psalms 16:7-8
Proverbs 3:5,6
Matt 21:22
John 14:13,14,26
John 15:16
John 16:23,24

Something to ponder:

In his book The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer describes how the average person learns to recognize God's voice: "First, a sound as a presence walking in the garden. Then a voice, more intelligible but still far from clear. Then the happy moment when the Spirit begins to illuminate the Scriptures and that which had only been a sound or at best a voice now becomes an intelligible word, warm and intimate and as clear as the word of a dear friend."

How does the concept of listening to God presented in this quote by A.W. Tozer make you feel about the possibility of hearing God’s voice?


In The Power of a Praying Woman, Stormie Omartian writes, "One of the most priceless gems you will find in God's Word is his voice. That's because he speaks to us through his Word as we read it or hear it. In fact, we can't really learn to recognize God's voice to our soul if we are not hearing him speak to us through His Word.”

How does the concept of listening to God presented in this quote by Stormie Omartian make you feel about reading the Bible?


Reading of God’s word and praying should be done together as you learn to hear God’s speaking. Maybe you want to write down what the scripture is saying to you. Maybe the scripture reading for the day will give you insight to the prayer requests that you bring before the Lord today.

One of the most clever tools used against Christians by Satan is the breakdown of the family. God will not answer prayers when the relationships closest to us is broken. (Ephesians 5, Hebrews 13)
I think that NOW is the time to correct a serious problem in today's church. I challenge all married women that read this to take the 30 day challenge. Let's start with encouraging our husbands and praying for them.

-------------------------------------------------------------
By Debbie Burt - you can read her blog full of wisdom and encouragement by click here .
--------
Thanks to JavaDawn, I just heard about a neat 30-Day Husband Encouragement Challenge for Wives. The author of the challenge is an incredible woman (who is an amazing encourager herself of thousands of women), Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

I remember being very convicted a few years ago about how I spoke to and about my hubby when I read Dr. Laura’s The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. Once pointed out to me, I really came to notice how much of a “hobby” it is for women to sit around and husband-bash — even in Christian circles!

Yet this type of negative-talking is extremely damaging to our husbands. God created them with a need for a woman. If you are a married woman — you have been chosen as just the right person to help your husband to succeed. Frankly, the seriousness of this job makes me feel honored and a little overwhelmed when I stop to consider it. Our verbal support for our husbands may be just what they need today — to get them through the day, to help them jump over hurdles at work, to feel up-to-life’s-challenges, to ensure that even if it seems the whole world is against them they can be confident there is someone on their team. I suspect this is true more often than we can imagine!

This particular “30 Day Challenge” is simply for wives is to spend the next 30 days not saying anything negative to your husband — or to anyone else about your husband, AND to say something you admire or appreciate about your husband to your husband — and to someone else about your husband. Doesn’t sound too hard, does it? Of course, I have it easy, being married to Ron!! I have VERY little to complain about! It will still a good reminder to spend 30 days ENCOURAGING my husband. I will appreciate having 30 days to focus on really lifting him up, verbally and in prayer as well. With the stress that often accompanies Christmas season (and more time spent together too) I thought the timing on this challenge couldn’t be better.

I REALLY hope all my little married gal pals will join me in this challenge. For those not married yet, perhaps you could spend 30 days asking God to make you a blessing and encouragement to EVERYONE you meet

Are you in? You can download the pdf file here, or sign up for 30 days of emails here.

Intercessory prayer is a specific type of prayer.
I am not a teacher, so I will put the responsibility of learning on the reader. I am more than open to dialog on any of these topics. I’m sure that I will be too academic for some and will have many places that will be further explanation in order to truthfully express what I’m trying to say.

Let’s look at some definitions:

From Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (on-line at dictionary.com)

Main Entry: in·ter·cede
Pronunciation: "in-t&r-'sEd
Date: 1597 : to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences : MEDIATE synonym see INTERPOSE

Main Entry: in·ter·vene
Pronunciation: "in-t&r-'vEn
1 : to occur, fall, or come between points of time or events
2 : to enter or appear as an irrelevant or extraneous feature or circumstance
3 : to come in or between by way of hindrance or modification
4 : to occur or lie between two things
5 a : to become a third party to a legal proceeding begun by others for the protection of an alleged interest b : to interfere usually by force or threat of force in another nation's internal affairs especially to compel or prevent an action synonym see INTERPOSE

Main Entry: in·ter·pose
Pronunciation: "in-t&r-'pOz
1 a : to place in an intervening position b : to put (oneself) between : INTRUDE
2 : to put forth by way of interference or intervention
3 : to introduce or throw in between the parts of a conversation or argument
intransitive senses
1 : to be or come between
2 : to step in between parties at variance : INTERVENE
3 : INTERRUPT
- in·ter·pos·er noun
synonyms INTERPOSE, INTERFERE, INTERVENE, MEDIATE, INTERCEDE mean to come or go between. INTERPOSE often implies no more than this . INTERFERE implies hindering . INTERVENE may imply an occurring in space or time between two things or a stepping in to stop a conflict . MEDIATE implies intervening between hostile factions . INTERCEDE implies acting for an offender in begging mercy or forgiveness .

What does it mean to intercede? According to Webster, intercede means to go or pass between and the word implies acting for an offender in begging for mercy or forgiveness; to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences.
Another definition of the word intervene means to become a third party to a legal proceeding begun by others for the protection of an alleged interest.
When we begin discussing intercessory prayer we have to first remember that Jesus did the intercession once and for all. By all rights, God the father has condemned us. We are guilty of sin and deserve death. But Jesus INTERCEDED and paid the price for the sins of the world. By His death, burial and resurrection, he came between us and the law of God and bought redemption with his own blood.
He continues his intercession and is our mediator. The book of James states that “there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” John 1:18 states:
“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
”Jesus declares to us what God is like.
When we pray in an intercessory manner we are acting on behalf of that intercession. Thus, we are praying in Jesus name or on His behalf!

Dutch Sheets ( http://www.dutchsheets.org) in his book Intercessory Prayer describes it this way:

You have probably heard of the small child who “was drawing a picture and his teacher said, ‘That ‘s an interesting picture. Tell me about it.’
‘It’s a picture of God.’
‘But nobody knows what God looks like.’
‘They will when I get done.’ Said the young artist.
Jesus came and drew us a picture of God! Now we know what He looks like.
But that’s not the only direction of His interceding. Great irony exists in the fact that Man who was meant to be God’s intercessor, mediator or representative on earth now needed someone to mediate for him. He who was made to represent God on earth now needed someone to represent him to God. Christ, of course, became that representative, intercessor or mediator. Not only did He represent God to man, but He also represented man to God. This God-man was the attorney for both sides!
He is the ultimate, final and only go-between. He is “ the Apostle [God to the human race] and High Priest [ the human race to God] of our confession” (Heb 3:1) He is Job’s great go-between, hanging between heaven and earth placing one hand on God and the other on humans (see Job 9:32,33)”


1 Tim. 2:5) Dutch Sheets continue’s to explain that Christ is our representative to guarentee our access to the Father so that when we ask ( John 16:26) that He is not doing our asking or petitioning of the Father for us: “In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will request the Father on your behalf.”

Christ is mediating our redemption so that we can do the asking!

The Father accepts us for one reason – because Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose again for our sins. When we ask something on Christ’s behalf, when we ask in Jesus’ name we are asking for credit on the basis of the very being of Christ and His meaning to the Father.

So if Christ has done the work, why should we pray? Why should be intercede in prayer? Basically, the answer to that is: because Jesus tells us to. He commands us to pray for one another so that we may be healed. (James 5:16)
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.)

Another answer is because God has chosen to work through the prayers of his people. We are given the privilege and the responsibility of coming to the throne of grace.
God wants us to represent our brothers and sisters in Christ before the father. He wants us to learn to be Christ like.

So intercessory prayer is meeting with God in ‘Jesus name’ and on behalf of another human being. Our job is not to INTERCEDE, MEDIATE, RECONCILE OR DELIVER. Our job is to distribute and release Christ’s intercession (mediation, reconciliation and deliverance)!

We can have power in our prayers because we are representing what Christ has already done. We can be bold in asking for answers from God the father because the price has already been paid.

Our authority comes from being called to represent Christ’s work of intercession. As long as we function in that capacity, we function in Christ’s authority. We’re not doing our works, He is doing his works through our prayers.

Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of the Church in America presented in 25 theses;
by common Christian Pam Davis;
Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following points will be the subject of a public discussion in the blogsphere She requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.

Here are some of the theses that I think are relevant;

# Everyone has sinned, is a sinner and are in need of forgiveness.

# Salvation and forgiveness can only come through Jesus Christ – the way, the truth, the life.

# The ‘church’ will become alive again only when it learns the importance of confession and repentance.

# When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance; of turning away from the old life and towards the righteousness in Christ Jesus.

# He has called us to be humble, to place ourselves under the Lordship of Christ. He has called us to work together in unity – not seeking our own best or glory.

# Repentance means a combination of confession and a turning around, a changing of ways, a turning away from sin and towards Righteousness. It is a turning away from the life dead to sin and towards the life giving Lord.

# It’s meaning is not restricted to repentance in one's heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs.

# Jesus is the source of forgiveness – but the earthly penalty may still be there. The church can pray intercession for the cleansing of both the sin and the result of sin, but the result of that intercession depends on the will of God.

# Any Christian whatsoever, who is truly repentant, enjoys absolute remission from penalty and guilt, and this is given him freely.

# Any Christian who has received forgiveness should be ready and willing to forgive those who tresspass against them.

# Any individual who does not love and does not forgive is not of God – for God is love.

# Those are enemies of Christ who forbid the word of God to be preached at all in some churches. God’s word commands that His word about sin and repentance, about Christ’s mercy and our need for that mercy be preached everywhere – but especially in the churches.

# Pastor’s will only get a voice when the Lord sets fire to their hearts. This will only happen when God’s people fall on their faces and knees and PRAY!

# It is the individual has responsibility to repent . Individuals have the requirement to pray for themselves and those leading in ministry.

# It is the responsibility of the family to train the next generation with the gospel of Christ. It is the younger generation’s responsibility to learn from those older.

# It is the Christian’s responsibility to support, encourage, train and submit to each other believer that we may truly submit to Christ.

# It is the Christian’s responsibility to stand for righteousness when given the chance. It is also their responsibility to represent mercy in tandem to righteousness. God gave the law, Christ didn’t abolish the law but fulfilled it so that we may receive mercy.

# The Church is worthless unless there is a difference between it and the World.

# We are commanded to “go into the whole world to preach the gospel”, but we are to start where God has us. Our family, friends and neighbors need to hear the gospel first.

# The gospel is null if we attempt to reach the world and by negligence destroy those that God has put in our path.

# Effective prayer avails much, it will move the hand of heaven.

# Effective prayer can only happen when the believer has faith and is acting in the will of God.

# An individual cannot know the will of God unless they have confessed and repented.

# A church will only be as effective as the individuals in that church are willing to pray in the perfect will of God for the effectiveness of that church.

#He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God?

Three different things came to my attention this last few weeks and I need to process what I’m learning. So for the want of a good starting point I will just start and then see where it takes me. The first is that my husband sent me a column by Doug Giles called An acid test for pastors part II. This is an article on Townhall.com that really is pretty harsh, but it definitely gives one something to think about. Doug Giles gives ten reasons why pastors today do not speak out against the moral and political decay of today’s society. Of course, he goes into much more detail and as the title states, he isn’t gentle in his criticism. But he has captured what a lot of people feel and he captured the longing for leaders that have vision and are willing to take a stand that I see as a common thread in Christianity throughout America.
The reasons he gives for not standing up are;
1. They fear man
2. They are ignorant about the current issues
3. They hate divisive issues
4. They believe we are at the end of the world, so why bother?
5. They are lazy
6. They don’t want to lose their tax exempt status
7. They think that earthly concerns are beyond them
8. They don’t want to be lumped in with the Taliban as radically religious
9. They are too busy with committees and other ‘church’ activities
10. They are afraid that taking a stand will chase away the money

The second thing that happened is that Ted Haggard, pastor of a 14,000 member Conservative Christian church was caught and finally confessed to being “sexually immoral”. Now Ted Haggard would have passed Doug Guiles’ acid test. It is obvious that the members of his church appreciated that he stood for something. It was attractive to them. He was very vocally pro-Israel and anti-gay marriage. He took a stand on the moral and political issues of the times. Doug Guiles would be proud. Even so, while Ted Haggard was outspoken against homosexuals he was having a three year tryst with a gay prostitute who sold him drugs and provided him with ‘massages’.

So I guess that I’d add another reason for pastor’s not speaking out against the issues. If a pastor is honest -- it’s hard to speak against sins that are pets. Whether he has confessed and repented of his sins or is sweeping them under the carpet -- speaking out about them is not a comfortable place to be. Maybe it is because he is lazy or complacent or has his conscience seared so that he can no longer see the sin. Maybe he is compassionate and doesn’t want to ‘throw the first stone’. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t know about confession, repentance and healing. Maybe someone should have been counseling Ted Haggard that GOD HATES the sin, but still loves the sinner. He may not be as popular and certainly Doug Giles wouldn’t be as happy with him. So Ted didn’t confess until he was caught and I don’t see repentance and healing in the future – although I don’t know that I’d trust him at this point.

The third thing that happened of significance recently is that my daughter had a Reformation Party. It was a great idea to have a party on October 31 that let people dress up. Since my roots are in the Baptist church and we never celebrated the ‘church’ holidays, I had never given much thought to the Reformation or what it meant to the ordinary person.

However, since that Tuesday, I have read a lot about Luther’s 95 theses. The first four theses are about the significance of repentance in the individual believer’s life. The rest of the theses cover things like the power of the church leaders and their abuses. (Hummmmm.)

It was Luther’s contention that penalties for sin were to be tests of true contrition – not chances for the rich to buy favors with the church. He pronounced that those who think that they are saved because they bought favors with the church are certainly damned.

Interesting stuff.

At the Reformation Party we also celebrated the life if William Tyndale who translated the Bible into English because he felt that the people NEEDED to have God’s word accessible to read on their own.

So what does all that mean to me? First of all, I’d LOVE to translate the 95 theses into today’s situations and paste them on the doors of the churches in America! Second of all, I’d LOVE to hear a pastor that wasn’t just ANGRY and outspoken about sin – but broken and weeping over the state of the country! I’d LOVE for there to be a humbling call to repentance and an out cry for healing throughout this country.

But I also think that there needs to be a grass – roots movement – not one from the organized churches. I think that God is stirring individuals to seek first of all His Word and second of all He is stirring people to seek HIS FACE; to petition for His mercy, to weep over the sins that fill our lives, that repentance might not be on the surface only but deep, honest and true.

And so I’ve decided that I’m calling for a Reformation of sorts. My next blog will post Pam’s 25 theses. Things that I think should be obvious to believers and the church but for what ever reason they aren’t. I will post them on the virtual door post and cry for a chance to dialog.

Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of the Church in America presented in 25 theses;
by common Christian Pam Davis;
Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following points will be the subject of a public discussion in the blogsphere She requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.

My grandson, CJ was telling me about his Bible study book. It is having him be a Bible detective. He is enjoying it because it asks questions and he has to work out the answers like a detective. He said that all the scripture that is in his study book have a series of questions that he has to answer. So I thought I'd apply that to worship. Those questions are who?, what?, why?, when?, where? So I used the search engine at http://unbound.biola.edu and searched on the word worship. Then I copied all the scriptures into a MS Word document and asked the questions. These are the answers that I have collected;

Who
All the earth will turn to the Lord, All families and nations will worship someday
The prosperous will eat and worship
Those who die will bow before Him in worship
The prince shall worship at the gate, the people shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the Lord
People of all nations will come to worship in Jerusalem
The Father wants worshippers who will worship in spirit and in truth
Encourage your children to worship


What
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name, bring an offering and worship in a holy way
Worship, purification and greeters (gatekeepers) all part of worship service
Worship with reverence, rejoice with trembling
Worship and singing
Worship and bow down
Kneel before our maker
Worship in holy attire
Listen to God as worship
Exalt the lLrd our God
Know that He is Holy
Worship with sacrifice and offerings
Make a vow and keep it
Turn from evil and amend your ways
Speak to the cities to come and worship in the Lord’s house
Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim his call to come and worship
After worship do not turn back to the way that you came
Worship only God and swear by his name
Bring first fruit as worship
Worship is only possible after a pardon of sin and a return to the right place
Worship God, know that Jesus is the spirit of prophecy
God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth
By mercies of God, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to god which is your spiritual service of worship
Fall on your face and worship god, declaring that he is among you
Worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh
Bow to the earth and worship


Why
Give him glory, worship because he made the heaven and earth and all that is in it
Some day all nations will come and worship because of the fear of the Lord, his holiness and righteous acts
By mercies of God, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to god which is your spiritual service of worship
The Father wants worshippers who will worship in spirit and in truth


When
When the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance – arise and worship
The wisemen saw his star in the east and came to worship him


Where
Worship on the mountain
At the head of the bed
Go and worship
Worship at a distance
Worship as part of tabernacle
Worship at his footstool
Worship at His Holy hill
Worship in his dwelling place
Worship in spirit and truth

Do nots
Do not worship other Gods, the moon, stars or other created things
Because God is jealous
Do not worship a foreign gods
Do not worship the work of your hands, silver or gold
If you teach the precepts of men – worship is in vain Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7
Don’t let anyone defraud you of your prize by delighting in self abasement and the worship of angels