Tag: Prayer

What’s Next for the Pro-life Movement?

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord- Romans 12:9-11 NIV

Last week God graciously answered almost fifty years of heartfelt prayers in one fell swoop when Roe vs. Wade was miraculously reversed by the Supreme Court. Like all pro-life Christians, I rejoiced at the news. There are no words for how good it feels to have a wrong that’s led to the death of sixty-million human beings righted by the courts after so much evil and injustice. 

However. The reaction from abortion supporters was far less joyful. 

It was Crazy Town.

 Seriously. 

There was literal wailing and literal gnashing of teeth and I mean that literally.  Mothers marched in protest to the ruling, some with their children wearing signs saying things like: “don’t force anyone into this” (meaning motherhood). Other protesters wore t-shirts saying: “I hate babies” or “I’m not pro-choice I’m anti-baby”. News anchors immediately began making wild predictions about all the other rights (birth control, gay marriage, interracial marriage) that will vanish into thin air because Roe has been repealed. A parade of women shared their personal abortion stories in glowing terms. Some openly lamented there will be women who won’t get the opportunity to abort their offspring like they did. Activists vowed to help women living in states where abortion is banned get abortions, using any means necessary. Joe Biden promised the federal government would do everything within its power to make chemical abortions readily available to every woman in every state in America. Elizabeth Warren and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez want the federal government to set up pop-up abortion clinics on federal land and inside national parks in states that outlaw or place limits on abortion. The governors of Washington, Oregon and California formed a creepy little alliance aimed at making the entire left-coast “abortion welcoming”. One governor even promised to do everything he could to make abortion free in his state. God help us all. 

The whole spectacle was sad and gross and disheartening.

Legalized abortion has created a culture of irresponsibility around sexuality. As a result, abortion has become something many people see as a need. Overturning Roe vs. Wade will not miraculously make men or women more sexually conscientious. Nor will it change the “children are messy, gross, fun-wrecking little liabilities” outlook that’s taken over our society by storm. Overthrowing Roe won’t make the baby haters love children. Nor, will it make abortion go away. In fact, reversing Roe will likely make abortion more common, at least in some places. There will be states where abortion laws become even more permissive than they were before. 

The pro-life movement still has a lot of work left to do.

Federal law may have changed, but hearts remain hard towards unborn children and minds remain closed to truth. Sex is a creepy little idol in our culture. The average person has bought into the belief that having sex is the thing that makes us fully human and the only route to true happiness and fulfillment.  That belief that is at the root of our culture’s willingness to sacrifice the unborn on the altar of their own happiness. Idols are not easily displaced in the lives of worshipers.  

We have to get busy. 

Changing a human heart is the most difficult thing in all the universe. In this case it simply will not happen without a literal miracle. Therefore, prayer must be our first order of business. Christians must pray diligently God does whatever it is that needs to be done in the hearts and mind of our friends, neighbors and family members to give them compassion and empathy towards unborn children and a desire to be more responsible in their sexual lives.  Without genuine, heartfelt, attitudinal transformation abortion numbers will remain unchanged despite the change in the law. We must pray diligently God will help those on the other side of the abortion divide understand the nature of the abortion “choice” once and for all.  

Change is neither free or easy.  

Changing hearts and minds takes time energy and money. Lots and lots of it. Please continue to donate open-handedly to pro-life organizations, especially pregnancy resource centers. The workload for these centers will get larger rather than smaller with the repeal of Roe. In the states where abortion remains legal centers will need to double down on their efforts to help, support and educate both Mothers and Fathers on what abortion is and why parents should choose life for their child.  In states where abortion is banned or limited there will be an army of women needing help, support and care with their unplanned pregnancies. 

This is an opportunity for the church to be the church. Let’s get it done.   

Satan’s Diary- May 2021

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour- 1st Peter 5:8 NKJV

Dearest Diary, 

All is splendid in hell. Truly splendid! I just received quarterly reports from all regions on earth and the news is beyond magnificent for yet another quarter. 

2021 is shaping up to be another banner year.  

Deception has taken root literally everywhere. This is working out for me in ways I have only dreamed about in the past. My beloved pet project, spreading excessive fear has been a stunning achievement. I owe much of my success in this endeavor to COVID-19 and government officials. That sweet little virus is the gift that keeps on giving. 

Love! Love! Love!

Despite declining death rates and the availability of three (3!) vaccines many still live in abject fear of catching COVID-19. Governments everywhere have taken full advantage of the fear. Totalitarianism is right around the corner! I can feel it! There is nothing I love more than a good, old-fashioned dictatorship. Nothing is more helpful to me personally than when a group of corrupt, sinful, flawed humans decides they have the right or obligation to fully control the lives of their fellow humans under the guise of the “greater good”. The yearning to exercise control over others always ends in evil, despair and misery. There is nothing I love more than evil, despair and human misery.  

Ha! 

The peer pressure to obey “the COVID rules” is nearly unbearable for some. Many are so fearful of getting bellowed at by a meddlesome observer on the street they are terrified to push back against policies they know in their hearts make little sense. No government agency anywhere is admonishing their citizens to eat healthier food or exercise. Instead fully vaccinated people are wearing masks around other fully vaccinated people! Proudly! Ha! In the name of “science”! The bondage these people are in! It’s beautiful! Governments promote the lunacy knowing full-well its lunacy because fear expands their power! There is nothing I love more than a politician who believes they know what’s best for everyone else.  

So good! 

The children are suffering the most on that idiotic planet. The children who actually get to be born that is. Many don’t thanks to my friends in the abortion industry. Yet another incredibly successful venture of mine. Abortion is just such a fabulous industry. I’m a huge fan. Abortion is a multi-million-dollar business. Nonetheless, many believe abortion clinics are charities that help women out of the goodness of hearts. HA!  The whole industry is only about making money. No abortion providers in the history of humanity have ever “helped” anyone for free. They certainly won’t help a woman become a parent and yet I have managed to convince the world that abortion clinics actually care about women. 

I’m literally the best there is. Seriously.

But I digress. I was talking about the kids. Ah the kiddos. This generation of moronic nincompoops have found ingenious new ways to completely screw-up their offspring. I really couldn’t be more pleased. Progressive sex education has taken root in school districts all over the world and many parents are so caught-up in their own lives they have no clue what their kids are learning. Others are actually convinced that kids should learn gender is fluid and sex is only pleasurable when it’s as weird as possible. Those idiots actually encourage the destruction of their own children through these programs. Love! I literally cannot wait to see how neurotic and peculiar this generation of kids turns out to be.  I have a hunch the dysfunction will be unlike anything ever seen before in human history. So good!

But there’s more! 

Racial division is growing. It won’t be long before all the progress made by that ridiculous Civil Rights Movement is completely undone by the news media and politicians who use racial division to further their own selfish agendas. It’s already trendy to judge others by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character. Critical Race Theory has been tremendously helpful with stirring up division. In hasn’t hurt that much of the populace is too dumb to spot the obvious racism entrenched in Critical Race Theory.  Do-gooders now actively encourage and promote racism in the name of ending racism. 

I love dumb people. Seriously. I do. 

 Christians are embracing woke thinking in a big way. Some people just can’t stand not being adored by the “in-crowd” so they agree to whatever philosophy is popular in the name of “being inclusive and caring”. That “logic” has always worked in my favor.  I’m a fan. 

There is one bit of bad news though. I have heard some troubling reports from a few churches. Some pastors have become overly concerned with building spiritual health into their people. Discipleship is experiencing a resurgence. I hate discipleship. It promotes spiritual growth and I despise spiritual growth.  Others are encouraging their people to attend prayer meetings (Gross). Some Christians are praying more than I feel comfortable with on their own. Prayer is known to lead to a stirring of the spirit and that can lead to revival. I despise revival. It’s unquestionably the worst thing ever for me.  

Well, there is probably no need to borrow trouble. I will just try to get those stupid Christians intent on changing the world through politics instead of prayer. That will distract them. It works every single time. 

Sincerely,

Satan

Three Prayers with the Power to Change the World-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me– Psalm 86:5-7 ESV

Humans were made to shape their world (Genesis 1:28).

Consequently,

All humans have an inborn desire to make a difference.  This fundamental longing gets magnified when a person embraces Jesus as Lord (Acts 4:12, Ephesians 1:13, James 1:21). God literally saves people from their sins for the purpose of doing good in the world (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, most Christians spend a good portion of their lives trying to figure out exactly what God wants them to do. There’s nothing wrong with a Christian searching for their God ordained purpose in this life. 

However.

Sometimes Christians miss the forest for the trees when it comes to the subject of purpose. We can get so caught-up in trying to discover what God wants us to do as individuals we forget there are things God wants all Christians to do all the time, regardless of who they are or what their individual calling is. There are some non-negotiables in the Christian life. All Christians are called to behave in a holy manner (Hebrews 12:14), serve in some capacity (Romans 12:5-8), forgive others (Matthew 6:15), practice thankfulness (Colossians 3:15), be generous with their resources (Luke 6:38, Romans 12:13) love others sacrificially (1st Corinthians 13, 1st Peter 1:22, 1st John 3:11) and pray Matthew 5:44, 1st Thessalonians 5:17, Colossians 4:2. 

Okay, so.

I would be a gigantic liar if I were to I tell you I understand everything there is to understand about prayer. I don’t. Truth-be-told, after thirty years of following Jesus, the in-and-outs of how and why prayer works is still a bit of a mystery to me.   That said, my experience with prayer has taught me prayer is a powerful thing frequently underestimated by most believers. Prayer can literally transform people and situations in a way nothing else can. 

We live in a world that is in desperate need of all sorts of transformation in all sorts different areas. Every day we are confronted with new and completely crazy-town ideas the world has decided are totally true and one-hundred-percent reasonable.

That’s where we come in.

There are three prayers Christians can pray everyday that will bring real and lasting transformation to this messed-up planet.  Christians should be praying for:

A moral awakening- 

The whole notion of morality and goodness has been turned on its head (Isaiah 5:20). Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the rainbow movement. This movement has even infiltrated some churches. The rainbow people teach behaviors and activities God says are sinful are actually a good, helpful, wholesome and normal way to live life (Deuteronomy 18:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21, 1st Corinthians 6:9 1st Timothy 1:10). This new sexual ethic has become so rooted in our thinking that no one will change their minds about the new sexuality unless God touches hearts and shows people truth. Christians should urgently pray for a moral awakening and the repentance that always comes with a moral awakening. Without it there is little hope for transformation and zero hope for revival. 

For truth to be revealed and received-

We live in an age of lies. Seriously. There are lies are being told about everything from sexuality and gender to what makes people happy to what exactly is safe and unsafe. Some lies are being told out of evil motives by people who want power. Other lies are told by deceived people who sincerely believe the lies are truth.   When men and women reject God they automatically reject what He says is true about everything (Romans 1:18-32). This causes them to believe lies about every part of life. We are currently at a tipping point where more people believe lies than truth. This means Christians must make a daily practice of praying that truth about life, God and current events will be revealed and received by those who have been deceived (Ephesians 6:14, John 8:32). 

The church will be ready for God to answer our prayers-

Most Christians I know are praying for revival right now. This is an essential thing to pray for. However, revival will not come to the world unless the church is ready for it. One of the responsibilities of the church is to make converts into mature disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). An irrefutable law of life is that all creatures produce after their own kind. This is every bit as true in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical (Genesis 1, Matthew 23:15). Weak, unhealthy, self-focused Christians inevitably produce weak, unhealthy, self-focused disciples.   Christians prepare for revival by becoming the people God has called us to. This means casting off sin and seeking to live lives that are one-hundred percent God honoring (Hebrews 12:1). 

These prayers are critical because our world is caught in a spiritual battle the likes of which the world has not seen in centuries (Ephesians 6:10-12). Without focused prayer nothing will change and without change our world is headed for all kinds of disaster. 

Are We Living in an Age of Conspiracy?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

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– Ephesians 6:12 200426

When the shutdowns began in March I immediately began receiving emails and messages containing countless conspiracy theories. Because I was bored and had little else to do, I went through most of the emails and videos that were sent to me. The conspiracies included (among other things) speculations regarding the origins of Coronavirus, and vaccines for coronavirus. There were theories concerning the strategy behind the national and global power grabs and plots connected to the coin shortage and how it’s being used to convert the world to a cashless society.

 I have been asked on occasion if I believe there is a group of people who have engineered the crisis to achieve a specific end.

 The answer is no.

  I certainly do not judge anyone who has decided we are living in the middle of some weird conspiracy cabal. There is without question sufficient evidence to tip the scale in favor of a sane person believing there is a secret society or group of creepy people pulling strings to move the human race towards their desired end. However, I simply do not believe human beings are smart enough, organized enough or secretive enough to pull off any plot that involves more than an infinitesimal group of people. Mostly because the average human struggles to keep a secret for longer than say five minutes. Most conspiracies intricate enough to make it into my email would involve literally hundreds of people and many layers of secrecy. There is practically zero chance that a single human being could keep literally hundreds of people from spilling the tea on any scheme interesting enough to make a video about it.

 However.

 This does not mean I don’t think SOME of the theories floating around these days are one-hundred-percent true. They are. I just think that it’s highly unlikely that a group of humans working alone could pull off those kinds of conspiracies without a little help from the enemy.

 Satan is always working behind the scenes to bring about the end he desires and he uses foolish, prideful, mostly oblivious humans to get the job done. Most of Satan’s schemes are focused on dehumanizing people and distracting them from spiritual truth. He uses popular mediums like music, television, books and movies to encourage people to participate in behaviors that enslave them to sin and destroy their desire for relationship with God. If for whatever reason a person is not down for wallowing around in sin he attempts to convince them of their own goodness and righteousness so they think they are too good to need a relationship with God (Mark 4:15, 1st Peter 5:8). Satan adores COVID-19 and is using it to spread fear and dissension.  Since the start of the Coronavirus lockdowns, Satan has worked through those in the media to spread fear that keeps people from thinking clearly about what should be done to manage Coronavirus. He has been working on those in positions of power to pass laws that limit human rights and restrict freedom of communication and movement all in the name of protecting public health. He has used the health dangers related to COVID to keep average citizens away from each other and to spread further dissent and conflict between people who once saw each other as being part of the same team.  The Bible is clear that there will come a day when basically the whole world and most of the people in it will be under Satan’s control (2nd Timothy 3:1-5). He will use one man to gain that control. (Daniel 7:21-22, Revelation 13). It is very likely the ground work is being laid for that right now (2nd Thessalonians (2:9).

 Another thing.

Satan doesn’t just use unbelievers. Sometimes he uses people who genuinely love Jesus to do his bidding and accomplish his purposes. Anytime a Christian refuses to examine their own behavior or analyze their beliefs in light of Scripture or prayerfully consider that they might be wrong about something they play into Satan’s hand and run the risk they will be used for evil purposes. We are living in a season of unprecedented deception where Satan has more power over more people including God’s people than he has had at any point since prior to the coming of Jesus (Matthew 24:4-13). In light of this reality, Christians should make self-examination a daily practice (2nd Corinthians 13:5, Jeremiah 17:9).  

 The final thing.

 It is imperative we remember that the people doing evil are not the ones in charge. They think they are but they aren’t. The enemy is and he does not have their best interests in mind. This is why we are commanded to pray for those who are doing the most damage to our country, our churches, our world and to us personally (Matthew 5:43-45, Luke 6:28, 1st Peter 3:12, 1st Timothy 2:1-3). When we pray for our enemies and the politicians who are doing evil it accomplishes several ends. First, we can be assured that God speaks to those people when we ask Him to. He would not command us to pray specifically for something if He did not intend to respond to those prayers (Matthew 5:44). Secondly, it changes our hearts towards those leaders when we pray. Instead of seeing them as the enemy we see them as puppets of an enemy who hates them and is using them, that change in attitude drives us to pray more. Finally, when we pray and the person repents we are blessed because we played a part in their change of heart.  

 The times we live in are unlike any we have experienced before. Life as we knew it may never return but we will grow spiritually stronger and be a part of the solution if we remember who is really at the heart of the conspiracies in our midst. 

 

 

Satan’s Diary- June 21st 2020

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes- Ephesians 6:10-11 NIV

Dear Diary,

 Life is GOOD!

 I just finished perusing second quarter reports. I literally could not be more PLEASED. I will not bore you with all the glorious details but that stupid planet is a magnificent mess.

 Seriously.

  The humans who have rejected God and biblical truth are rapidly losing touch with reality. They have bought into the lie that evil is good and good is evil. Ideas and behaviors that were once considered immoral and dangerous to society are now considered to be mainstream and even healthy. Millions have been damaged, some irreparably, by the lies that have been adopted as truth. Hate, violence and looting have taken root in cities all over the world. It’s all happening in the name creating a more peaceful, just and fair society!  People who ought to know better are fully deceived into thinking hate and destruction is acceptable because it’s being done for the “right” reasons.  Those not deceived are too panic-stricken by the mere thought of being labeled intolerant or racist to say anything about anything.

 YES!

 Decades ago, I began cleverly convincing parents that discipling their children was futile and mean. I made them think any kind of correction or disapproval would stifle their child’s creativity and damage their self-esteem. With the assistance of exquisitely misguided “child-rearing professionals” I encouraged parents to allow their children to do whatever felt good to them. Because children are little-tiny sinners it felt really good for them to mindlessly express rage anytime their feelings were hurt, something was unfair or they didn’t get their way. My hard work has paid off. That generation is now fully grown and the outcome is beyond beautiful. Those “adults” have zero self-control and even less sense.  They want society to bow to their infantile and feebly thought-out demands. Full-grown adults scream, blubber and destroy property until someone finally caves. Politicians are just as terrified of their tantrums as their parents were. They are being given everything they want in hopes they will eventually just quiet down and play nice.

 As if.

 However, it’s the Christian community I am most pleased with right now. I have spent decades convincing Christian pastors and leaders that being popular, tolerant and “cool” is the key to effective evangelism. Most Christians are so used to hopping onto every inane, secular bandwagon that they have been sucked into endorsing a organization that promotes evil, unforgiveness and hatred. They are sanctioning sinful ideas in the name of loving their neighbor and repairing race relations!  Christian leaders are too afraid of being disliked to tell anyone Jesus is the only way to bring peace and healing to fractured hearts and lives.  No one is calling anyone to repentance or to forgive their enemies. Those fools have all but forgotten forgiveness is the only cure for bitterness.

 My greatest triumph has been in the area of prayer.

 I have worked hard to convince Christians prayer is a dreary waste of time. It is paying off. Now Christian leaders read books and strategize rather than praying for wisdom. Regular church attenders have followed suit.  Old people are the only ones who attend prayer meetings. Most of prayer the warriors are dead or will be soon and most younger Christians don’t even know how to pray. Others believe that if God doesn’t give them what they want when they ask for it He is being callous and unjust.  So, they give up, they just stop. Apparently, none of those fools have read Luke 18:1-8. Some have even turned their backs on God because He had the nerve to tell them “no” to a request. 

 OUTSTANDING.

 Most Christians don’t think Ephesians 6:10-17 applies to them so they don’t ask God to show them truth about themselves, God and other people. So, I use lies to keep them in bondage to sin, unbelief and suspicion of others. Many are so distrustful of their fellow Christians they do everything possible to avoid meaningful relationships with other Christians, this ensures they have no accountability in their lives and therefore never move beyond spiritual infancy. I have skillfully convinced Christians that righteous behavior is legalistic and unnecessary for Christians. They don’t ask God to empower them to live by biblical standards. As a result their hearts become defiled by sin. This is a beautiful thing because makes them unfit for spiritual work AND they are unable to see life the way God sees life. Their lack of insight and wisdom leads to more sin which leads to more bondage.   They don’t ask God to give opportunities to evangelize so they are to fearful to speak up and they remain silent when opportunities do present themselves. They don’t ask for faith so they live in fear. Because they lack faith they consistently rely on worldly methods to achieve spiritual ends and fail every time. Christians don’t pray for each other so they don’t experience the community that develops when they routinely pray for other Christians.

 WINNING!

 Life will stay good until those fools start praying like they mean it.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Ephesians 6 Prayer

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

Heavenly Father,

 I have no spiritual strength of my own, I am weak and powerless without you. Make me strong in your strength. Remind me today that obedience to you and relationship with you is the key to being strong in you.  Give me a heart inclined towards obedience so that my spiritual strength is increased and I become a more like you and less like me.

 Remind me as I go about my life today that the battles I fight are not against the people living in this world but against the spiritual forces that influence the people of this world. I choose to receive your armor so that I can stand my ground against the schemes of the enemy. Remind me that Satan’s schemes always involve searching for my personal weakness so that he can use them to crush me. Make my weak places strong in you.  When I am done doing my part to fight help me to stand.

 Gird me up with truth. Prepare me for whatever today brings. Teach me truth, God. I want to know the truth of your word, I want to know truth about who I am as person and what I need to do to be used by you. I know that Satan attacks my most personal, private places with guilt and condemnation. Help me know how deeply I have been forgiven by you so I can treat others with the same grace and love you show me.

I choose to put on the breastplate of righteousness, knowing that I have no righteousness of my own.  But I also know that when I walk in the righteous behavior that you call me to I avoid many of the traps the enemy sets for me. Remind me today that righteous behavior protects my heart from defilement (Proverbs 4:23).  

 I want to spread the gospel of peace wherever you take me today. Make me aware of opportunities to share the gospel with others. When there are no opportunities to share the gospel help me treat others in a way that reflects gospel truths.  Help me be a voice of harmony in the midst of discord and upset.

 Put the shield of faith around me. Plant the truth of who you are and what you have done deep within my heart, so, that when the enemy tells me you can’t, I remember that you have and you will.

 Protect my mind with the helmet of salvation. Remind me the mind is the gateway to the heart, give me wisdom about what to let into in my mind.  Help me to remember that Satan’s goal is to use my mind to tell me lies. Help me to train my mind to think the way you think. Protect me from being lured in by false teachings and worldly philosophies that war against my soul. Put your word in my heart and in my mouth, make it a powerful weapon against the schemes of the devil.

 Amen.

 

 

 

 

Nine Crazy-Bold Prayers Christians Should Pray Everyday

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence- 2ndChronicles 6:19 NIV

It does not take any exceptional insight or wisdom to see that our world has morphed into a flaming-hot-dumpster-fire of a mess in what feels like record time. 

Human life does not have the value it did just a few years ago. Poor neighborhoods in larger cities have morphed into war zones with weekly body and injury counts. One out of every three children conceived is aborted and the body parts of many of those children are peddled for profit under the guise of “science” and “improving life”. The market for sex slaves is booming. Millions of boys and girls are bought and sold for the pleasure of adults who have no regard for anyone or anything including vulnerable children. 

Everybody hates everybody. Name-calling and character assassination are the new normal. One wrong word either spoken or written and the thought police is unleashed. No one is exempt from the hate and nothing is too outrageous to say anymore. Words that were once earmarked for truly dastardly people with proven track records of actual evil, words like racist, white supremacist, Nazi and fascist are now lobbed around with casual indifference at anyone foolish or brave enough to offend the thought mob. Those who hold to a conservative view of morality and truth are hated and no group is more despised than Bible-believing Christians.  

Sigh. 

These are times that are sure to test even the best and brightest of God’s people (Matthew 24:9-13).  Christians should strive to remember two truths about the time we live in. First and foremost, God promised this day would come (2ndTimothy 3:1-5, 2ndPeter 3:3).  There is nothing we are seeing or experiencing that should come as a shock to anyone with even a casual familiarity with the New Testament. Secondly, Christians are told to stand against evil. We are not to run or hide in our bunkers or curse the darkness on social media. Rather we are told to do what we can to fight the evil and then stand brazenly against it (Ephesians 6:13).  The way we stand is through prayer. I believe God is calling His people to pray some crazy bold prayers these days. Following are ten hard prayers every Christian should consider praying every day. 

Pray for the delusion to be lifted- 

2ndThessalonians promises that there will come a day when people will hate truth so much that they will consciously reject God and refuse to be saved (2ndThessalonians 2:10b-11). The result of this reckless rejection of God and His truth is that a powerful delusion will come on the earth causing people to hate truth (all truth, not just spiritual truth) even more.  Christians should do their best to be as much like God as humanly possible. This means we should want people to be saved and we should never, ever delight in the death of a wicked person (John 3:16, Ezekiel 33:11).  Pray the delusion is lifted and people will embrace truth.

Pray for an end to lawlessness- 

A natural consequence of the above-mentioned delusion will be a level of lawlessness that will be unlike anything the world has seen since the days of Noah (1stJohn 3:4, Genesis 6:11). The rise in violence, sexual-slavery, hate groups and the upsurge in attacks against the police are natural consequences of human beings willfully choosing spiritual rebellion over spiritual obedience.  

Pray for genuine racial healing- 

All human beings are made in the image of God. Conflict between the races breaks the heart of God (1st Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). Furthermore, we will not move forward as a nation without authentic racial reconciliation. 

Pray church leaders will rethink how church is done- 

In recent decades there have been radical changes in the way Christians do church. Church has shifted from a member model designed to train Christians to evangelize unbelievers into a seeker model designed to attract unbelievers to church services. Intentions were noble but outcomes have been less than stellar. There have been very few lasting conversions in recent years and many “Christians” are leaving the faith altogether. Most alarming of all, most believers freely admit they do not feel adequately equipped to reach the lost. We must return to a model of church that attracts non-Christians to Jesus (John 13:35) and teaches and trains Christians to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-15). 

Pray God will show you your junk- 

Every single person, Christian or non-Christian has junk. Junk is our stupid, sinful and weird ways of relating to God and people.  Junk is bad because it hurts other people and holds us back from maturing into the person God wants us to be. Pray fervently that God will show you your junk so you can repent, change and become the man or woman God needs you to be at this point in history. 

Pray for a movement of repentance in the church- 

God moves when people repent (2ndChronicles 7:14, 2ndCorinthians 13:5). We need God to move, so, pray for repentance. 

Pray for the crazy person who is convinced you’re a racist or a meanie or whatever- 

There is literally nothing worse than being falsely accused of something awful and nothing easier than loathing the people who accuse us falsely. Pray for the haters. There’s a lot of them out there and they need our prayers more than they need our judgment.

Pray for transparency in government and that duplicity will be revealed- 

Seriously. 

Pray for boldness, wisdom and spiritual strength-

What the world needs more than anything is Christians who will use wisdom and sound biblical theology to boldly and lovingly reach out to their friends and neighbors with the good news that Jesus really does love them. People need to know God has the power to transform them into something infinitely better than they are right now.  

Five Prayers Every Christian Should Pray During the Coronavirus Crisis, It’s Not Like You Have Anything Better to-

Lisa M. Price2 Comments

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers~ 2nd Corinthians 1:10-11a NIV

 Life in the present-day world certainly has is peculiar.  On the one hand, pretty much everyone agrees that those lucky enough to live in the Western world at this time in history have more blessings, conveniences and creature comforts than people at any other time in human history.

 We also have more than our fair share of weird worries. Even really normal people worry about stuff past generations would have thought strange. Things like microbes; random terror attacks, getting old, and despotic dictators in distant countries. The more neurotic among us (i.e. me) do not worry about “normal things” instead we worry about more exotic issues like the long-term effects of worry on our health and whether or not cell phone radiation is scrambling our brains and turning us into a horde of mindless zombies (don’t judge).

 Sigh.                                        

 Most of the stuff we worry about is directly related to situations we have little actual control over. The angst that grows out of lack of control typically leads to one of two opposite and equally unhelpful, unhealthy, and unspiritual responses. Some people worry their heads off about things they know they can do absolutely nothing about. Others go out of their way to avoid news concerning the scary drama in our world, in a misguided effort to prevent themselves from freaking-out about things they know for a fact they can do nothing about.

 God calls us to a more proactive solution. He calls us to pray (Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2, 1st Thessalonians 5:13). We are called to pray for those closest to us and we are called to pray for people we will never know. We are even also called to pray for situations entirely outside of our control (1st Timothy 2:1-2). In the interest of promoting peace rather than anxiety I have compiled a list of things I believe every Christian ought to be praying about everyday (James 5:16). All of these issues are vast and far-reaching; so vast and far-reaching that nothing will change on any of these fronts without God’s help.

 Pray America does some intense soul searching-

 Hardly a week goes by without a random act of horrible violence taking place somewhere in America. Sadly, few people are interested in talking about WHY these incidents continue to happen with such shocking regularity. It’s time for Americans to think a little deeper about why our culture is producing people who care so little for their fellow humans that they want to kill as many of them as possible in the most dramatic way imaginable.

 Pray for children in our culture-

 A shocking number of kids today are being born to parents who care more about themselves and their idiotically sinful habits than they do about their own offspring. This trend is rapidly producing a sizable subculture of disturbed, academically challenged and drug-affected children and young adults who are (in many cases) incapable of functioning in a healthy, productive and  life-giving way in the culture. These kids need our assistance and our prayers. And our culture needs to change this trend quickly or we are going to reap a bitter harvest in the coming years.

 Pray for a return of Christian families-

 At the root of the vast majority of the problems in our world lay a lack of virtue, common sense, concern for our fellow humans and an absence of conscience. God intended for people to acquire these things in the context of loving Christian homes. Until we have a return of the Christian family our world will continue to struggle with these issues.

 Pray for leaders around the world-

 Because I am American and about 90% of the people who read this blog also happen to be American I sometimes forget that the entire world needs prayer every bit as much as America does. We need to pray that leaders worldwide will govern from a standpoint of wisdom and common sense rather than foolishness and worldly twaddle. This is a tall order and something only God can make happen. It is a cause worthy of some serious prayer time.

 Pray for revival-

 We need revival in our world because God is the only one who can successfully and permanently change a human heart. We need heart change in our world because without it none of the other things that need changing ever will, and our world desperately needs change.

 

 

 

 

The Real Hero of Christmas-

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife~ Matthew 1:24 NIV

 I will not lie.

 I really love some of the less-than-spiritual aspects of Christmas. I love Jesus (because I am not a heathen). I also love the parties, the food, the trees, the decorations, the music, and the traditions of Christmas. I even like some of the stuff I should probably dislike. Things like Frosty, Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, and gift giving and getting. I actually enjoy  the commercial stuff that sidetracks us from what should be a simple celebration of the birth of the Savior.

 Because I am drawn to the secular side of Christmas every year I attempt to discipline myself and spend a little extra time each year focusing on the birth of Christ. This year I started in Matthew and rediscovered an often forgotten hero of the Christmas story: Joseph.

 Most of us overlook Joseph because Mary is clearly the star of the show. It’s easy to get caught up in the drama of her story. Mary’s obedient response to Gabriel’s announcement is how we should all respond to God’s call on our life. She voluntarily endured personal loss, hardship and probably even ridicule to bring the Messiah into the world.

 Everyone loves Mary.

 However, this year it was Joseph that captured my attention. I’m convinced that if we were all a little more like Joseph the world would be a better place.

 The text tells us that God saw Joseph as a righteous man. That alone was a fairly rare thing for God to say about anyone in those days. Then we are told that because of his righteousness he did not want to divorce Mary publicly. At this point in the story Mary and Joseph were legally wed, the marriage was a done deal in the eyes of the law, their religious community and their family and friends. The only thing left to do was to consummate the marriage.

 According to both Roman and Jewish law Joseph had every right to publicly divorce (and humiliate) Mary. They were married and he had what appeared to be incontrovertible proof of infidelity. Her story about the angel was, by every measurable standard, more than a little nutso. Even most “good” people would have felt justified in publicly shaming a woman who slept with another man and then told a ridiculously outlandish story to cover-up her misdeeds.

 Seriously.           

 God’s evaluation of Joseph as a “righteous man” tells me that God has a special place in His heart for those who look out for the reputations of others. God blesses those who are willing to go out of their way not to behave in a vengeful way even when they have been legitimately wronged.

 I love that Joseph was willing to ignore the opinions of people in order to gain the approval of God. Following the dream where Joseph was commanded to keep Mary as his wife, Joseph had to go back to his family and friends and tell them that he planned to go ahead with marriage to a girl most people were probably convinced was less than honorable woman.

 Joseph’s family and friends were likely convinced that Joseph was either a fool or a liar. It almost goes without saying that Joseph suffered heartache, humiliation and social disgrace for his choice to stick by Mary.

Joseph’s selflessness is a reminder that the kind of righteousness that pleases God typically involves a high level of inconvenience and self-denial.

 There is nothing wrong with the silly side of Christmas celebrations. The God we serve created fun and joy. My prayer is that in the midst of all the fun and merrymaking Joseph’s story will serve as a reminder that our response to God’s goodness and generosity should be a life of authentic righteousness and self-denial.

Five Ways our Generation has gone Completely Sideways Where Prayer is Concerned-

Lisa M. Price1 Comment

This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread”~ Matthew 6:9-11 NIV

 This week I enjoyed a very long lunch with an old friend. This particular friend is not just an old friend in the sense that we have known each other a long time. She is also an old friend in the sense that she is a good bit older than I am. I don’t know if it’s because she’s older than I am or if it’s because she’s acquired some wisdom in life (or a combination of the two), but this woman never fails to challenge me. The truly maddening thing is that I’m fairly certain she does it without even trying.

 This visit was no exception.

 We spent some time catching-up on our families and grumbling about all the madness in the world, then we moved on to the topic of church and ministry. I shared a little bit about what’s going on in my life right now, she shared what she’s doing and a couple of “back in the day” stories.

 I will not lie.

 There was a time (to my eternal shame) when I would sigh quietly anytime an older Christian began to wax eloquent about how ministry was done “back in the day”. I assumed like all youthful idiots that there is nothing significant to be learned from how church or ministry was done in the past. However, my generations’ complete and utter failure to make meaningful spiritual inroads into to our culture has humbled me a bit. I am now much more inclined to listen when those with a few years on me start talking.

 It didn’t take long for me to recognize that all of her stories had a shared theme. The theme did not include tales of strategic outreach, careful planning or exciting gimmicks used to lure the unsaved into church buildings or a relationship with Jesus. Rather, the common denominator to all her stories was prayer. In every story she told, Christians prayed really hard and then crazy-cool stuff would happen, hearts changed, non-Christians became Christians, sin got confessed and repented of, and miracles took place. By the end of our lunch I was deeply convicted that our generation has forgotten how to pray and screwed-up the concept of prayer in at least five ways.

 Beginning with:

 We plan instead of pray-

 I am a planner. One of my favorite adages much to the chagrin of my poor children is “failure to plan is like planning to fail”. I have even been accused of over-planning a time or two. That said, I suspect we might see more success in our churches and events if we spent at least as much time praying for events and services as we do planning for them.

 We just don’t-

 According to a bunch of self-surveys I looked at, Christians admit to spending an average of three minutes a day in prayer. The ugly underbelly of that already ugly fact is that it tells us that at least half of all Christians either don’t pray at all or routinely pray for fewer than three minutes a day.  

 We don’t really believe anything will happen when we do pray-

 Over and over again in the New Testament we are told that God is much more inclined to answer prayer when the person praying actually believes that something will happen because they prayed. I will be the first to admit that God does not answer all our prayers the way we want Him to answer our prayers. However, that does not mean we should stop believing that God will answer when we do pray.  

 We pray for dumb stuff-

 Seriously, the world is going to hell right in front of us (literally and figuratively) and I have been at prayer meetings where people requested prayer for the health of their pets and for a relaxing vacation. God does care about pets and rest (He cares about everything). However, I suspect He cares more about the souls of the lost and is more inclined to answer in the affirmative when we pray about stuff that actually matters.  

 We don’t pray corporately-

 Even when we do gather to pray corporately, most of the time we wander off by our selves and pray alone. I’m pretty sure that’s not what Jesus had in mind when He talked about “two or three being gathered” in His name.

 We have lost touch with the purpose of prayer. Prayer is not about convincing God to do what we want or getting a blessing from God. Prayer is about becoming spiritually aware, getting our purposes aligned with His and receiving the spiritual power we need to do the things that really matter to God.