Tim Keller, Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, recently posted his regiment of daily prayer. It is great to see what leaders in the church do regurlarly to maintain their connection with God. There was a lot to like about his short post, but a couple things did stand out to me.

1. I appreciated how he dealt with not keeping to his plan. He just laid it out there. It happens, but he strives to maintain the routine because he know he is effected by it.
2. He has a commitment to pray daily with his wife. I strongly believe in this practice but hear very little on it. It was refreshing. I also liked his presentation. This is what I do. This is why I do it. We are glad we are committed to it. There is a strong call to follow his example as a man who is a respected Christian leader believes in it stongly. But, at the same time, there is no hint of condemnation for those who don't do it.

Thank you, Tim Keller, for sharing your thoughts and practices on daily prayer. May God continue to bless your life and ministry.

John Eldredge's newsletter from the other morning reiterated the thought from the previous post regarding what we are afraid to ask God for. I have included the email text below.

Do You Want to Get Well?
2/17/2010

The shriveled figure lay in the sun like a pile of rags dumped there by accident. It hardly appeared to be human. But those who used the gate to go in and out of Jerusalem recognized him. He was disabled, dropped off there every morning by someone in his family, and picked up again at the end of the day. A rumor was going around that sometimes (no one really knew when) an angel would stir the waters, and the first one in would be healed. Sort of a lottery, if you will. And as with every lottery, the desperate gathered round, hoping for a miracle.

It had been so long since anyone had actually spoken to him, he thought the question was meant for someone else. Squinting upward into the sun, he didn’t recognize the figure standing above him. The misshapen man asked the fellow to repeat himself; perhaps he had misheard. Although the voice was kind, the question felt harsh, even cruel.

“Do you want to get well?”

He sat speechless, blinking into the sun. Slowly, the words seeped into his consciousness, like a voice calling him out of a dream. Do I want to get well? Slowly, like a wheel long rusted, his mind began to turn over. What kind of question is that? Why else would I be lying here? Why else would I have spent every day for the past thirty-eight seasons lying here? He is mocking me. But now that his vision had adjusted to the glare, he could see the inquisitor’s face, his eyes. The face was as kind as the voice he heard. Apparently, the man meant what he said, and he was waiting for an answer. “Do you want to get well? What is it that you want?”

It was Jesus who posed the question, so there must be something we’re missing here. He is love incarnate. Why did he ask the paraplegic such an embarrassing question?

(Desire , 33–34)

What do you think this sparrow thought of me as I held him in my hand this past summer? Was I mean or oppressive? Did I intend to hurt the him? Not at all! I took this picture this summer after I rescued this bird from having enthusiasticly eaten his way inside of a bird feeder. While I had I had this sparrow gently tucked in my hand for a moment, he may have thought of me as his opressor, but actually I was his savior from his own errors. I use this as an analogy because a lot of what we think of God, and thus hear from him, depends on our perspective of him and our relationship with him. Charles Stanley, in his series Listening to God, outlines what determines what we hear when we do listen to him.

What Determines What We Hear?
Psalm 81:7-16

Three primary things:

1. Our relationship with Him. (Example: A lost person will hear God speak to salvation issues.)

The relationship is twofold:

a. Salvation: true salvation is once and for all
b. Identification: my daily, ongoing relationship

2. Our understanding of who He is:

When we go to God, what type of father do we hear?

a. A loving father genuinely interested
b. A demanding father with too high of standards who is ashamed of you?

What kind of friend do we hear?

a. Intimate friend
b. Distant friend

What kind of teacher?

a. Patient teacher
b. Criticizing, condemning, uncompromising, scolding.

What kind of guide?

a. Gentile guide
b. Strict, intolerant

What kind of counselor?

a. Understanding, listening, accepting, loving, unconditional
b. Condemnation, guilt, rejection

What type of provider?

a. Generous, takes delight in prospering his children, wants to bless.
b. Reluctant, stingy, calculating.

What type of supporter?

a. Faithful til the end, reliable, dependable, consistent
b. Inconsistent

3. Our attitude toward him?

a. Wrong: Proud, egotistical, arrogant? We wont hear him.
b. Right:

i. Submissive to his will regardless.
ii. Trusting when these three things are right, we will hear the truth.

image of Dr. Joon Gon Kim with Dr. Bill Bright
scanned from "Until Everyone Has Heard:The First Fifty Years"
by Campus Crusade for Christ

On September 29th of this year, the Christian community quietly lost a huge saint in the faith. Dr. Joon Gon Kim was the national director of Campus Crusade in Korea for the last 40 years. He is the first person to have started a national Campus Crusade ministry outside of the USA. He led his ministry with unshakeable faith, spearheading Christianity’s growth in Korea. Early in life, he was flogged by communists who also murdered his family before his very eyes. However, Dr. Kim forgave the communists and even converted them to Christ. This act of forgiveness paid massive rewards in the kingdom celebrating the heart of Christ. His work in South Korea had massive milestones as EXPLO 74 where 320,000 gathered and later in 1980 Here's Life South Korea which had 3 million. Today, 25 percent of Koreans profess to be Christian and Korea sends more missionaries than any country but the US. So when I say "quietly lost", his passing was only quiet in the US. Below I have attached an article from Steve Douglass that he sent out to former Campus Crusade staff.

From a human perspective, Dr. Kim should not have lived to be even 30 years old. Late in the World War II, he was conscripted by the Japanese army to serve with other Koreans as a human shield against the advancing Chinese armies. He escaped, but then fled through frigid mountain terrain without adequate food or clothing.

But after that, he was captured, beaten and left for dead by the Communists during the Korean War. He was recaptured and almost killed again by the Communists.

Dr. Kim endured great suffering both physically and emotionally. through it all, instead of growing bitter toward God, he drew much closer to God - being refined like fire refines gold.

So it is no surprise that he emerged as a man totally dedicated to God and to the spread of the gospel to all of the people of Korea. Dr. Kim fasted and prayed more than anyone else I have known and was totally committed to holiness of life. (It most go noticed that Steve Douglass worked closely with Bill Bright who annually fasted 40-days near the end of his life for the coming revival. This last statement is quite strong a commendation for Dr. Kim!)

I did view Dr. Kim as "soft-spoken" - until I heard him preach in Korea many years ago. At one of his memorial services, they showed several clips of him preaching. He was very animated and passionate. At times he would elicit from the crowd "cheers" or "chants" for Jesus as Lord and the answer to all of our questions and problems.

His heart burned not just for the evangelization but also the Christianization of Korea. He worked hard for the gospel to spread to North Korea, China and beyond. He constantly challenged people to pray for, give to, and go into missions.

At the World Evangelism Crusade in 1980, 100,000 people committed to being involved in missions. In 2001, a survey was done that discovered that 80 percent of all people working in missions departments of Korean churches had been involved in Korea Campus Crusade for Christ.

Dr. Kim was very well known for his faith. Examples abound, but I will share just one.

I was in the audience of 80,000 at EXPLO 72 in Dallas when Dr. Kim publicly announced the upcoming EXPLO 74. He said it would be in Seoul, Korea, in just two years and hoped to attract 300,000 people. That was almost four times the size of EXPLO 72, and I knew what incredible effort went into that for over two years.

I asked Bill Bright if he thought Dr. Kim was fully aware of what all would be involved in the implementation of such a massive endeavor. Bill said, "No, but he trust God, who does know and can provide whatever is needed."

In the next two years, there were many seemingly insurmountable challenges, but God did provide. More than 300,000 people did attend. And EXPLO 74 contributed significantly to the rapid growth of the Korean church in the years that followed.

Dr. Kim is a superb model for all of us. He walked with God despite severe suffering. His heart burned with a passion to reach the lost. He learned to believe God for the impossible. We would do very well to follow him as he followed Jesus.

Steve

Bob Buford is a Texas cable entrepreneur turned social entrepreneur. He wrote the famous book "Halftime," founded Leadership Network in Dallas, TX and blogs at www.activeenergy.net, which I recommend. I've had several chances to spend time with Bob in Charlotte and Dallas and have gained from each opportunity. Recently he's been writing about rise of social entrepreneurs, many of them forsaking high pay in exchange for high significance. I thought I'd let Bob know how praytel.net fits into the revolution. Here's my reply:

Bob,

I worked on an acquisition for fourteen months-- a sure thing that ended up falling apart when details surfaced. I took some time afterward to ask the Lord what next? I came away convinced that prayer was what matters, for prayer is the means God has ordained to move him.

If we pray and move God how many X is that? There's a bewildering amount of symptoms in the world. A problem here, another there. This new revolution seeks to strike at these problems, and rightly so. Thoreau wrote in 1854 that "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." The closer to the root of the world's problems that these revolutionaries strike, the more powerful will be their movement.

So would not God (or rather, the lack of him) be at the root of these problems? I say so, and that if we wish to "strike at the root" of evil, we must begin with prayer. Why is it then that I would rather exhaust myself with "branch hacking effort" (low - X work), when we are called to pray, which moves God (infinite - X work)? Let's face it though, most of our prayers are non-existent or anemic. We get busy hacking branches, we get distracted, we forget, we get sleepy, we are unorganized. I've always been more effective when praying with others (like with friend and entrepreneur Michael S. of Florida). For now, my part in the revolution, my X, is to get people to reengage prayer. With a small team of other revolutionaries I've developed praytel.net, which is nearing beta stage. It will call people daily at a phone of their choice at a time of their choice and and deliver prayer prompts and prayer space to coach them through fresh, relevant, topics to pray about. They can leave prayer requests which will be routed to others, and others' requests will be routed to them. Ministries or individuals can sign up. It's my small part to gain leverage in the big revolution.

Best,
Ted Budd

Again, I give credit to a series Charles Stanley preached several years ago titled Listening to God. Here are my notes... and thank you for reading because I certainly appreciate the review. Comments below are appreciated.

How do I know that God is doing the talking?
How can we distinguish the voices?

If you are a believer, walking in the Spirit, it should be very easy for you to determine the voice of God.

1. Consistent with the Word of God, while not out of context.
2. Does it conflict with human reason. Usually God’s plan will conflict with natural way of doing things. And are often not rational and reasonable.
   1. Turn the other cheek
   2. Go two miles
   3. Sacrifice of Isaac (which would now contradict his Word)
3. Does it clash with the gratification of fleshly desires? God seeks to satisfy the yearning of the Spirit.
4. Will this challenge my faith? God is always up to challenging our faith.
5. Does this decision call for courage? Often, not always, what is spoken will require it.
   

   Example:
   Go back to Scripture. Imagine Jesus telling his disciples what's about to happen in regards to himself

   • Suffer
   • Killed
   • Rise from Dead

   Does this fit with the above Criteria? Yes. Each of the above criteria were true in the life of Christ.

6. Is it careless regarding it’s effect toward other people, crude toward others, or overly independent. Does it require a rushed or snap decision?
7. Consider the future consequences of what you do? Satan says “forget the future! You only live once! Eat, drink & be merry.” God will sometimes lead us to get advice, BUT we must check out the lifestyle of those we get advice from. Does not mean ignore it. BUT remember criteria 1-6 above.
8. Does it contribute to my spiritual growth or hinder?
9. A calmness develops in my spirit.

I don't doubt God, his goodness, or his leading. However, I often doubt my level of clarity in perceiving his Word and his subsequent leading though prayer. We all could probably list Christians who have done foolish things with the best of intent, thinking they were doing what the Lord wanted them too. Perhaps we'd even call some of those actions, not faith-filled, but a little weird sometimes. Several years ago pastor Charles Stanley preached a series on Listening to God. The subject is a fascination of mine in hopes that whatever I learn helps improve my accuracy, clarity, and confidence in listening to him. My following few blogs will post some of my notes from the series. These are great for me to review and I hope you enjoy them.

Ten Ways God Gets Our Attention

1. A restless spirit. (Esther 6) Restlessness brewing in one’s own spirit. Stop and ask God if He is trying to say something. It is often a gentle way He tells us need to change directions or that we are headed in the wrong direction.
2. Speaking to us through someone else. (I Samuel: Eli directed Samuel to hear the Lord)
3. Blessing us in an unusual way. (Romans 2:4) Spiritual, financially, vocational. 
4. Unanswered prayer. (II Sam 12) Sometimes there is something in our life that needs to be dealt with.  Closed doors don’t always mean it isn’t God’s will.
5. Disappointment.  (Numbers 14) How do we respond to it?
6. Something unusual happens. Look for the handiwork of God in everyday circumstances and events. (Exodus 3:1) Moses was a strong-willed man who had to be broken.
7. Failure & humiliation. (Joshua 7) At promised land first responsibility is to conquer Jericho. God did it. Israel got cocky with Ai, which was smaller, and were subsequently humiliated, due to arrogance, theft of booty. There's a difference between failing and being a failure.
8. Dries up our finances. (Judges 6) Israelites cried to the Lord only after they lost everything. Then he blessed them.
9. Tragedy. (Numbers 21). Mentioned in John 3. II Chronicles 32:22 (blessing… then illness due to pride).
10. Healing & Sickness.

I have enjoyed John Eldredge's writings for almost 10 years. This morning I received one his daily newsletters that I feel speaks right to the heart of some people's issue with prayer: God's silence. Eldredge says that most people assume the issue is either with their unworthiness or God's lack of love for them (although very few will admit this out loud). Why is God silent?

I hope you enjoy today's newsletter as much as I did.  If you want to subscribe to Eldredge's daily email, create a profile at www.ransomedheart.com/myprofile.

We Are At War
10/7/2009

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 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 (Daniel 10:1-3).

Something has happened that Daniel doesn’t understand. I think we can all relate to that. We don’t understand about 90% of what happens to us, either. Daniel is troubled. He sets out to get an answer. But three weeks of prayer and fasting produce no results. What is he to conclude? If Daniel were like most people, by this point he’d probably be headed towards one of two conclusions: I’m blowing it, or, God is holding out on me. He might try confessing every sin and petty offense, in hopes of opening up the lines of communication with God. Or, he might withdraw into a sort of disappointed resignation, drop the fast, and turn on the television. In an effort to hang onto his faith, he might embrace the difficulty as part of “God’s will for his life.” He might read a book on “the silence of God.” That’s the way the people I know handle this sort of thing.

And he would be dead wrong.

On the 21st day of the fast an angel shows up, out of breath. In a sort of apology the angel explains to Daniel that God had actually dispatched him in answer to Daniel’s prayers the very first day he prayed – three weeks ago. (There goes the whole unanswered prayer thesis, right out the window). Three weeks ago? What is Daniel to do with that? “The very first day? But…I’ve…I mean, thank you so very much, and I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but…where have you been?” You haven’t blown it, Daniel, and God isn’t holding out on you. The angel goes on to explain that he was locked in hand-to-hand combat with a mighty fallen angel, a demonic power of dreadful strength, who kept him out of the Persian kingdom for these three weeks, and how he finally had to go get Michael (the great Archangel, the Captain of the Lord’s hosts) to come and help him break through enemy lines. “Now I am here, in answer to your prayer. Sorry its taken so long.”

(Waking The Dead ,30-32)

Have you ever seen the movie Bruce Almighty? Bruce steps in for God for a while and is overwhelmed by all the incoming prayers. Is that really the way God receives all of mankind's prayers? Listen to his perspective on eternity and time. Perhaps it will encourage you to know how God views time and how that influences his hearing of our prayers. Enjoy!

Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, was asked this very question when he received the Templeton Prize for religious advancement.

Bill and Vonette Bright started Campus Crusade in 1951 with the vision of reaching the college campus today to reach the world tomorrow. Dr. Bright was a businessman and had a strong internal motivation, but even so, he and Vonette knew that the vision they had would only be accomplished by God. Therefore they immediately started to bathe the ministry in prayer. They divided each day into 96 segments of 15 minutes each and recruited people to commit to pray (see Global Prayer Movements' August 2009 newsletter).

With this as the back drop, when Dr. Bright was offered the award of a million dollars, he did not take to money for himself; he did not use it to feed the programs of Campus Crusade, even the Jesus Film was left out; and he did not give it to the poor. While each of these would have been acceptable, Dr. Bright, fully convinced of the power of prayer, used it to educate leaders of the church worldwide to the spiritual benefits of fasting and prayer (see Chuck Colson's article).

Notice the start of the ministry was 15 minute segments of prayer. Praytel's goal is to help Christians commit to 15 miniutes of daily prayer. If you give us your email address, we will keep you informed of updates.