(April 8, 2011)

Prayer House News

Pastor John is asking anyone who might be interested in attending his new Connect Group or just to ask questions about it to email him at; PastorJohn@prayerhouseag.org

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Devotional!

Behold, He Prays

There is yet another facet to the little phrase, behold he prays, that I want us to understand. Prayer is a sign to others that grace indeed has been given. God’s assurance to Ananias that it was now safe to approach Saul of Tarsus and to pray for him was the fact that Saul was in prayer. Is there any greater proof that a man is a man of God like the fact that he is a man of prayer?

The world may not fully understand prayer but it respects it. Christians respect prayer. The prayer meeting is a place of reverence and awe. When you walk into our prayer room and find it full of people waiting on God, calling out to God, and giving words, there is a reverence that you don’t find in any other Christian activity.

However, there is a difference between the act of prayer and earnest prayer.

Remember Paul prayed a lot before he knew Christ and it never drew the attention of God at all. So it’s not just the act of prayer that impresses God or many dead religions would be equally impressive to God. It’s earnest prayer. Paul was pouring out his heart to God. Hannah poured out her heart to God as she prayed for a child and her prayer caught the attention of God.

James 5:17-18 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it

would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. (18) Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

There is a little phrase associated with this verse and it says that “Elijah prayed in his prayer.” It’s talking about how in the midst of his prayer he really prayed, he earnestly prayed, he sincerely prayed, he prayed with faith believing.

It seems that all too often our praying lacks heart, it lacks emotion, it lacks faith. God wants us to not only pray – but to really pray while we pray.

As sons and daughters we have the privilege of prayer afforded us. We need to take advantage of that and go after God. First of all nothing bring awe and wonder to God like the prayers of His children. God loves it when we pray, He waits for us to pray, He even begs us to pray more. Secondly, when we really pray within our praying and pray the prayer of faith like Elijah did – we literally can ask anything we want and it will be given us.

Acts 9:16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

“Behold he prays.” Saul’s prayer launched him into one of the most effective ministries and any man has had. He wrote most of the New Testament through the revelation he gained in prayer. He was shipwrecked, he was bitten by a viper with no effects at all, he was thrown into prison, he was beaten, and ridiculed without ever giving up on God – all because he prayed.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

What if God Had Voice Mail

We have all learned to live with "voice mail" as a necessary part of modern life. But have you wondered what would happen if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing this:

Thank you for calling My Father's House. Please select one of the following options:

Press 1 for Requests

Press 2 for Thanksgiving

Press 3 for Complaints

Press 4 for All Other Inquiries.

I'm sorry, all of our angels are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received, so please stay on the line.

If you would like to speak to:

God, Press 1

Jesus, Press 2

The Holy Spirit, Press 3

If you would like to hear King David sing a psalm while you are holding, please press 4.

To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, Press 5, enter his or her social security number, and then press the pound key. (If you get a negative response, try area code 666.)

For reservations at "My Father's House," please enter J-O-H-N followed by 3-1-6. For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, and where Noah's ark is, please wait until you arrive here.

Our computers show that you have already prayed once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow. This office is closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday. Please pray again Monday after 9:30 AM. If you need emergency assistance when this office is closed, contact your local pastor.

Thank God He doesn't have voice mail and that He listens when we pray!

(April 7, 2011)

Prayer House News

Mighty Men will be meeting tonight followed by RPM.

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Pastor John is asking anyone who might be interested in attending his new Connect Group or just to ask questions about it to email him at; PastorJohn@prayerhouseag.org

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Concerning the book “Holiness, Truth, and the Presence of God” that P. Nick promoted Sunday as a book of focus for the month of April and the Glory of God… The books we ordered are used books. Some of them are in excellent condition with very few markings on them. We ordered used ones to keep the price low and affordable. If you would prefer to have a brand new book you may visit the following the website to order. http://www.amazon.com/Holiness-Truth-Presence-Francis-Frangipane/ On this site, the new books are selling for $9.00 plus shipping.

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Devotional!

Behold, He Prays

Think of this; Saul of Tarsus had been a praying man all his life, he maintained the traditions of his spiritual fathers, which would have included daily prayers, but not until he experienced his conversion and came into son-ship with the father, does God take note that he is praying. God answers Paul joyously. There is a ring of exultation in the words he speaks to Ananias.

It’s very similar to the joyous ring of our Lord in teaching the parable of the Lost Sheep.

Luke 15:3-7 Then Jesus told them this parable: (4) "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? (5) And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders (6) and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' (7) I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

In verse 6 he says, “Rejoice with me.” That’s the same spirit we find the Lord in, in his willingness to answer Saul’s prayer. He says to Ananias, “Look he’s praying.” And it’s not just the fact that he’s praying but rather – praying indicates son-ship. It’s almost as though God is saying, “Look, I have a new son.” Proof that he is a new son is that he prays.

There is joy in the heart of God the Father when His lost children begin to pray. He answers like the God His is. Chadwick says, “The answering hand of God waits for the lifted hand of man, and the heart that answers always transcends the heart that cries.”

Prayer indicates son-ship. That is the focus of the Lord here. It’s not a matter of trying to figure out why God saved Saul. We should be picking up on the joy God is expressing over Saul praying. And even then it’s not just the fact that he is praying – it’s that fact that he has become a son, and as sons and daughters of God – we pray. And when we pray we get revelation. Revelation is what changes our lives.

A Vision and a Messenger

God answers Saul of Tarsus in two parts. First he gave the vision, then he gave the messenger. That is God’s way: first an assurance, and then the confirmation. That is the mystery of spiritual co-operation! Prayer could be defined as spiritual co-operation. The Lord moves in response to the prayer.

When I was about one year old in the Lord, I remember being in a missions service. The missionary Monroe Grams was speaking at our convention. On Sunday night he put out a call for people to come around the altar to pray. As I knelt down to pray God began to deal with me about going into the ministry. I cannot say that I had a vision about going to Bible college but I definitely felt him dealing with me about it. I got up from prayer and walked to the back of the sanctuary where my Mom was just standing there by the back wall. When I walked up to her she said, “When are you going to Bible College?” I said, “How do you know I’m going?” She said, “God showed me while you were praying.”

This is how God works. Don’t think this account with Ananias and Paul was so exceptional. This method is really quite common. God could just as easily have said to my Mom, “Behold, he prays, go tell him he’s going to bible college.” My mom could have responded similar to how Ananias responded. “I don’t really trust him, Lord.” And God would have said, “Go.”

First there is the vision, then there is the messenger. How many times have we heard missionaries share that very type of thing? They will stumble upon some obscure tribe way off in the jungle someplace and be welcomed with great fanfare because long before they got there a vision was given that a man would come with a message of peace and salvation. And then the missionary/messenger shows up. First there is the assurance, the vision, and then there is the confirmation, the messenger.

============================================== Medication: A Merry Heart

What's Wrong with Lawyer Jokes?

Lawyers don't think they're funny, and nobody else seems to think they're jokes.

(April 6, 2011)

Prayer House News

No mid-week services tonight - it's FAMILY WEEK!

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Pastor John is asking anyone who might be interested in attending his new Connect Group or just to ask questions about it to email him at; PastorJohn@prayerhouseag.org

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Devotional!

Behold, He Prays

If we look back at verse 11 we see Paul doing something that speaks to the heart of God. "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.” He is praying!

When verse 11 says, “he is praying.” This little phrase is the key to this whole section of scripture. Some of the other translations of the bible use the word “behold” here. “Behold, he prays.” Samuel Chadwick in his book, “The Path of Prayer,” refers to this little phrase as bringing wonder to God. He says, “God speaks of prayer in terms of wonder: “Behold, he prays.” Prayer is the language of humanity, but it is the only speech man knows, and however inadequate it may be, it stands for corresponding reality in God. Can God wonder? Can there be in Him elements of surprise and amazement? Can it be that there are things that to God are wonderful? Yet that is how God speaks about prayer. It would seem as if the biggest thing in God’s universe is a man who prays. The only thing bigger would be the man who knows to pray and willfully chooses not to. That also is a wonder to God.

Behold He prays! It was during Paul’s prayer time that he received the vision of his healing. Because he prayed God spoke to Ananias and told him to go to Paul and pray for him. Prayer becomes the point of revelation for us. Not too many of us have been knocked off our donkey and stricken blind at the revelation of Christ but we can have revelation through the practice of prayer.

This one incident tells us a lot of what God thinks of prayer. His mind concerning prayer is seen in every command to pray, in every law of prayer, in every promise concerning prayer, and in every example of answered prayer. There are three people in this incident of prayer. There is the man who prayed, Saul. There is God, who heard the prayer, and there is Ananias, the man through whom the answer came. However, God is central in all of this. It is to Him we pray, through Him prayer is interpreted, and by Him prayer is answered.

The conversion of Saul is the final and complete expression of the scriptures. This is what it’s all about. It’s about men getting saved and coming into an intimate relationship with Him. “Behold he prays,” is more than just an exclamation that someone is in prayer.

This is everything the Damascus road experience was meant to lead up to. When God speaks of it He sums it all up in the words, “Behold, he prays,” or “He is praying.” Prayer is the privilege of sons, and the test of son-ship. That is what it meant to God, and that is what it always means to Him. Prayer is the symbol and proof of Grace. All that happens in the converting work of Grace whereby we receive the adoption of sons is that, being sons, we begin to pray.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

A Case of the Flu

Suffering from a bad case of the flu, a man phoned his doctor for to get an appointment.

When he was told the scheduled date of the appointment, he became outraged and bellowed, "Three weeks? The doctor can't see me for three weeks? I could well be dead by then!"

Calmly, the receptionist replied, "If so, would you have your wife call to cancel the appointment?"

(April 5, 2011)

Prayer House News!

Tomorrow morning we are inviting anyone who wants to join the pastoral staff for prayer at 8:00am for a great time of seeking Him. We will be doing this each Tuesday this month. It's part of our CORE focus on the Glory of God.

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Concerning the book “Holiness, Truth, and the Presence of God” that P. Nick promoted Sunday as a book of focus for the month of April and the Glory of God… The books we ordered are used books. Some of them are in excellent condition with very few markings on them. We ordered used ones to keep the price low and affordable. If you would prefer to have a brand new book you may visit the following the website to order. http://www.amazon.com/Holiness-Truth-Presence-Francis-Frangipane/dp/0962904910/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301943665&sr=8-1. On this site, the new books are selling for $9.00 plus shipping.

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My message from Sunday is attached. Read it and sleep --- I mean weep.

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Devotional!

Behold, He Prays

Until there is a revelation of Christ, God understands that we do not understand. What we do before we know Christ is all based on the fact that we have not had any revelation. But at one point it became God’s pleasure to save us anyway. When you think back to your own salvation experience – why did God save you? Did He save you because you were worthy of salvation? Were you so righteous that He had no choice but to save you? To all of these questions the answer is “no.” He saved us because He is a merciful God and it pleased him to bring you into His family. He loved us long before we loved Him.

Each of us needed a revelation to be saved.

This whole chapter has to do with revelation and the role prayer plays in it. The first revelation is when the light from heaven came down. Acts 9:3 …“suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. (4) He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Then Paul begins to have a conversation with the Lord. (5) "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,"

I think it’s remarkable that the men with Paul were dumbfounded. (7) The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. I find it quite interesting that they did not get the full revelation that Paul got. They heard the sound but did not see anyone. This indicates that Paul must have not only heard but he saw something. Plus the fact that he went blind for a few days indicates that he saw something to wonderful to behold. The scriptures do not go into any detail about what happened to the men that were with him, but I would imagine their lives were changed also. Typically when a person is left speechless it impacts their life.

Paul is then taken to Damascus and some very interesting things happen in the spirit realm here. God begins to talk to a man named Ananias.

Acts 9:10-12 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. (11) The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. (12) In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."

Don’t you find that most interesting. God calls Ananias in a vision and tells him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. The detail involved here is incredible. We don’t typically think of God knowing us that personally. When I get to heaven I really don’t expect God to say, “Oh yeah, you were the guy from Kenosha. Didn’t you live on 5th Ave. for a long time and then you bought a new place on 27th Ave. How did you like condo living? “

In the midst of this vision God tells him that Paul has also had a vision and in Paul’s vision he saw you, Ananias. He saw you place your hands on him and pray for him to be healed. So I want you to go and pray for him so as to fulfill this vision. However, Ananias is a little hesitant. He says, “I’ve heard a lot about this man. He doesn’t like us Christians. He has authority to throw us in jail.” Look at how God answers him in verse 15, “But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.”

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Medication: A Merry Heart

There was a knock on the door this morning.

I opened it to find a young man standing there who said, "Hello sir, I'm a Jehovah's Witness."

I said, "Come in and sit down." I offered him coffee and asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

He said, "Beats me. I've never gotten this far before."

(April 4, 2011)

Prayer House News

What a great time we had in the presence of the Lord yesterday. We not only kicked off our new CORE focus on the Glory of God - we also prayed over 3 people who received a license to preach through Pray-Tell Ministries.

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Devotional!

Behold, He Prays

Isaiah 55:8,9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. (9) "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is one of the greatest pictures of grace we have in the bible, though there are others. Isaiah said it well when he spoke the Lord’s words by saying, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” God’s ways are higher than our ways. His ways are more lofty than ours. Our thoughts and ways are, at best, earthly. His are on a higher plane of reality.

Evidence of that is how very difficult it is for us to overcome our works mentality. Our works mentality wants to figure out why God suddenly appeared to Saul causing his conversion. That really does not make sense to us because we don’t see Paul as deserving salvation.

Let’s re-look at some of these opening verses.

Acts 9:1-2 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest (2) and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Saul was not on a path of righteousness getting more and more godly. He was breathing out murderous threats. He wanted to kill Christians and at least throw them in jail. Yet God decides to save him. This fits into the last message I preached about being fully redeemed. It’s almost as though anything we did before we met Christ means absolutely nothing to him. The only things that matter are the things we do after we meet Jesus.

Look at how Paul describes his salvation in Galatians.

Galatians 1:11-16 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. (12) I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (13) For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

(14) I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. (15) But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased (16) to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man.

Paul was intensely persecuting the church and trying to destroy it. He was advancing in Judaism and was extremely zealous for the traditions of his fathers. Yet in the midst of all this, God was pleased to reveal his Son to Paul. This is where our thinking and God’s thinking differs greatly. We would think that God would be so mad at Paul that the last thing He would want to do would be to save Paul. Yet that is not the case. It pleased God to save Paul.

It would seem that much of the reason for this is how God understands our need to have things revealed to us. Paul even makes reference to revelation in how he learned to preach the gospel. In Verse 12 he says, I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

================================================================== Medication: A Merry Heart

One Sunday At Church

One Sunday, a pastor told his congregation that the church needed some extra money. He asked the people to consider donating a little more than usual into the offering plate. He said that whoever gave the most would be able to pick out three hymns. After the offering plates were passed, the pastor glanced down and noticed that someone had placed ten $100 bills in the offering.

He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy with his congregation and said he'd like to personally thank the person who placed the money in the plate. A very quiet, elderly, saintly-looking lady all the way in the back shyly raised her hand. The pastor asked her to come to the front.

Slowly she made her way to the pastor. He told her how wonderful it was that she gave so much and in thanks asked her to pick out three hymns.

Her eyes brightened as she looked over the congregation, pointed to the three most handsome men in the building and said, "I'll take him and him and him."

(April 1, 2011)

Prayer House News

This is the first day of April! Seriously it is!

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Last night was Dorothy Littner's funeral. I want to thank all of you who helped out from my pastoral staff, the kitchen ladies, and all of those who simply showed up during the day to help us get the building ready. She was laid to rest in a full house which is a testimony to the life she lived amongst us.

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Devotional!

Fully Redeemed

A few years ago I used this illustration, some of you may remember it, some of you may be hearing it for the first time. It was supposedly taken from a true account. It’s about a man and his wife on vacation in Europe. They were in London visiting Buckingham Palace where they have the famous “red-coat” guards. At one point they were up in the turret looking down upon the guards. They were both looking out separate windows down at the guards. The wife said to her husband, “Isn’t it odd that the famous red-coat guards are wearing white coats today.” The husband looked out his window and said, “No, they are as red as can be.” The wife said, “Honey, they are clearly white.” He turned back and said, “Snuggles, they couldn’t be more red.” They continued back and forth for a couple of minutes. Finally out of exasperation the wife said, “Come over here and look at them.” He said, “Well you come here and look.” So they switched windows, and when they did they also switched stories. She said, “I guess you are correct they are red coats.” And he said, “No, honey you were the right one – they are wearing white coats.” Now for the rest of the story! What happened was their two different windows had two different colored pains. The wife’s window had a red pain in it, while the man’s window had a clear pain in it. God has made it so whenever you look at something red through something red it turns it pure white. I remember in high school I took a welding class. Welders know that the goggles they wear are made out of a deep, dark red, glass! That way, when they look through the red glass at the red flame of the torch it turns it white, making it much easier to see what you are welding.

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

When God looks at our deep, dark, crimson red sins, through the shed blood of Christ it turns them pure white like snow.

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Medication: A Merry Heart

Idle Thoughts Of A Wandering Mind:

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway.

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Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.

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One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.

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My weight is perfect for my height--which varies.

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I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.

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How can there be self-help "groups"?

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If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?

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Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground, and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off

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Is it me --or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?