Joey's Prayer Site

The Power of a Praying Doctor

Today is my day off.  Early this morning I had a check up that was required by my insurance company.  I also took the time to see another doctor - something that aging people like me have to be conscientious about.  After all I turn 52 in May.

Generally I look for younger doctors who are not typically as ornery as older ones.  I think that's because they haven't seen and heard as many complaints from patients.  Today was one of those days where God had planned a divine appointment.

I found this young doctor who was pleasant, very engaging and an expert in his field.  But a most interesting thing happened.  As he looked at my medical record he noticed that I had written pastor as my occupation.  As he read it he exclaimed "You're a pastor?"

Day One: Prayer and Fasting 2009

Smile it's time for our church's annual 7 days of prayer and fasting.  I will endeavor to post some of the things I glean over the next few days, here's my first, hope it encourages you as you fast and pray:

Moses is old.  He knows his time of departure is near.  He is giving out his final instructions.

See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.  Deuteronomy 4:5

He is underscoring the importance of God’s decrees and how following them will ensure their success in entering and taking possession of God’s Promise Land.

How To Overcome Distractions When Praying

 The other day I boarded the Qantas flight to Brisbane Australia to visit with my friends in Citipointe Church here.  The flight had a weird schedule.  It left Manila at 6:35PM and would arrive at 4:05 AM, Brisbane time.

Knowing the busyness of the week ahead I needed to gather my soul and find rest.  I have learned that the key to that is prayer. 

Praying in a plane flying on coach is not an easy thing.  Naturally I did not want to show my seatmate and the other passengers that I was praying but I knew I needed a serious time of it.

Prayer and Sailing

John Ortberg in his book "The Life You’ve Always Wanted" explained the 2 ways we typically undertake our prayer moments with God.  He contrasts 2 different ways of approaching it – motor boating and sailing. 

Motor boating is when we crank our spiritual engines and motor through reading, praying, worship, praise and intercession.  With little regard for the Spirit of God we run as fast as we can to accomplish our “prayer routine”.

John explains that when praying it is better to view things more like sailing rather than motor boating.  Sailing is about total dependence on the wind.  Sailors instinctively know that the way to go forward is to wait on the wind.  So it is with prayer.

Prayer and Laughter

There is an interesting story in the book of Genesis about laughter, mentioned 4 times in 4 verses the scriptures draws our attention to this often overlooked expression of joy, particularly among the praying kind.

So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’  Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”  Genesis 18:12-15

In a nutshell, Sarah did not believe God and laughed at the prospect of God’s promise.  God responded by asking her why she laughed.  He was pointing out to Abraham and Sarah the truth behind her laughter.   But that’s not the end of the story:

Prayer and Headless Men

I’ve been reading the book of Daniel the last few days and came across the story of the time when King Nebuchadnezzar had his strange dream that no one could interpret for him.

In his rage he decided to have all of his wise men executed (Daniel 2:12).  It did not say how they were to be executed but in those days the usual way was they were beheaded, plus “Headless Men” was a great title for this post.

Long story made short, Daniel prayed with his core team of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  In the evening God answered their prayer and gave Daniel the interpretation to the king’s dream.

One Dangerous Prayer

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalm 139:23-24

Dangerous only if you're not serious about God.  I know in my life I have prayed this prayer not once but several times.  The dangerous part about it is God usually answers it in ways we may not expect.

Prayer and Pain

The word pain shows up early in the Bible, in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis:

To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.  Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”  To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 

I’ve often wondered why God instituted pain in the lives of people.  Personally I believe it was and still is His way of protecting us.  For instance if we touch something hot the initial pain causes us to remove our hands from the heat source.  Imagine if we did not feel any pain.  Our hand will never detract from the flame and will just burn us completely.

Prayer and the Cemetery

I love to run.  I love the endorphins I get when I run.  Manila does not have very many good places to  run, parks are far and in between.  One common option for runners is to run in cemeteries.  They are a great compromise to a full-blown park.

Prayer and Pyrotechnics

In the course of my daily reading I read these interesting yet very concerning verses in the book of Leviticus:

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.  Leviticus 10:1-2

One of our pastors referred to the fire as pyrotechnics.  I thought that would make a good title.   

Prayer and Boredom

I must admit that for years prayer was boring to me.  Sitting down reading and talking alone can be a tiresome exercise, especially if you did it everyday.  This assertion is so true that even the Bible tells us that the disciples couldn’t last praying and ended up falling asleep. So the next time you get condemned about getting bored and falling asleep while praying, don’t be, even the best who were personally with Jesus did.

Prayer and Mindanao

I woke up this morning with the headlines from the Philippine Inquirer that read:  Air Force Planes Bomb MILF Lair.  In the last few weeks Mindanao has been in the news with serious threats of a war that is brewing.  I have been praying for the situation.  Two days ago I called Manny Carlos (President of Victory) to write a prayer that could be used to pray fort he situation.  More importantly, to pray for the people who are caught in the middle of the conflict. 

Here was his prayer:

Our Father in heaven, in the mighty Name of Jesus our Lord, we pray for your divine intervention in Mindanao. Your word says in 1Tim 2:1 – 4 to pray for everyone and for all those in authority, that we may leave peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness, which pleases God, who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

Prayer and Independence

On it's own independence is  not a bad thing.  Taken to an extreme it can be harmful.  Can’t remember where I got this just because I have read and reread too many books on prayer.  But whenever I don’t feel like praying I remember this quote from someone I don’t remember (probably: Bob Sorge):

The posture of prayer is humility.  Prayerlessness is the first sign of prideful independence.

Prayer and Rain

Prayer is the underestimated weapon of the Christian.  It can change the course of history and turn things around.  All too often we pray only in times of emergency and urgent need and that’s not altogether a bad thing.  That’s better than not responding in prayer at all.

My Morning Prayer Outline

Jesus is the best teacher on prayer.  After all He spent much of His time praying and He is the Son of God.  I have taken His prayer outline in the book of Matthew and have used it for years as my guide when I pray. 

The good thing about this guide is that all you need is some pieces of paper (ideally a notebook) and your Bible and you are good to go.

Prayer and Two Way Radios

This January our church is starting a brand new series entitled Sync.  The idea behind the series is to be in Sync with God.  Getting His heartbeat and being in step with His will.  The question is how to do we get there?

Being in sync with God is no different from 2 two-way radios communicating with each other.  Unless they are synchronized on the same channel or are in the same frequency there will be no transmission of the information.  The key is to synchronize.

Prayer and Spinning Class

(10th post on Excercise thread)

My wife Marie and I enjoy the Spinning class at our local Gold’s Gym.  Simply put Spinning is a high-intensity exercise that uses specially designed stationary bicycles in a classroom setting.  It works your heart rate up and makes you sweat profusely.

One of the differences between exercising alone and our Spinning class are our classmates.  They vary from middle aged guys (like ourselves) to people in their 30’s and some very young ones.

Then there’s our instructor who pushes us to the limits of our capabilities and keeps us pushing when we have opted for slacking.

Prayer and Muscles

(9th post on exercise thread)

As I write this post I am sitting in my hotel room in Yokohama Japan.  I just left a meeting after the Sunday service.  The meeting was for young people who have just graduated and are starting out in their careers.  It also included young men and women who are still in university and are about to graduate.

Prayer and Endurance

I'm back after a 3 week absence.  This post is a continuation of my thread on Prayer and Execise - the 8th in the series)

Endurance is the ability to suffer, tolerate pain and adversity while remaining patient in the midst of a race or trial through long periods of time.  Endurance is best seen in sports.

Whether that is a marathon, triathlon, swimming, weight lifting, tennis or team sports such as basketball or soccer, endurance plays a critical part.

There are specific exercises to enhance one’s endurance.  Usually these programs combine both aerobic and anaerobic exercises.  They are also designed to mobilize our inner will and drive to stay focused in the midst of the suffering and pain.

25th Wedding Anniversary Break

I am taking a 3 week break for this blog to visit CFIC church in the Bay Area (California) and from there turn around and head for home to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.

In the meantime here are a few links that will hopefully continue to inspire and motivate you to pray and go and make disciples:

The first post is an audio message I shared at the Every Nation Church in Singapore:  Click here for the link:  Enjoying Fasting

This second post is an audio link from our EN chuch in London. The message is all about discipleship. It was a bit of a unique situation as I was asked to preach inside an authentic English Pub. Had to stmble through the idea of people sitting around holding glasses and smoke coming up from the lower floor, not mention jet lag, but in time I got my bearings. Talk about a church that inisists on being culturally relevant: Discipleship Demystified.

And if you just want to read about the latest things going on with my life including some of Marie's posts about our 25 years together click here: One Last Trip And Then Its Our 25th Anniversary

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.  Proverbs 18:22

I will be back in 3 weeks.   All the best to you all!