PRAYER IMPRINT

A CHALLENGE TO PRAY

Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord 
by failing to pray for you. 1 Samuel 12:23 


I will pray for you!


How many times have you said these words? Do you actually follow through? Or has it become a statement used as a conversation piece to make someone feel better? How serious is this phrase to God?

by Carla McDougal

As you read the verse above who does Samuel say we sin against when we fail to pray for one another? The Lord! God calls us to pray for each other, lift one another up, and to cry out in pray for the needs of others. This was instilled in Samuel at an early age. Hannah, his mother, was unable to conceive a child. She cried out to God for a son and made a vow to Him...


If You will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life. 1 Samuel 1:11


God heard her cry. Answered her prayer. And, she followed through with her promise to God. Samuel's mother's example left a "Prayer Imprint" on his heart. Throughout the scriptures we find example after example of Samuel praying for others. I love the fact that when he says he will pray, he did it right then... read 1 Samuel 7:5.


Understanding the importance of following through with "I will pray for you" is the beginning. Now, do you believe your prayers make a difference? Do you mean what you pray or do you just say the words out of duty? Get ready to be blown away...


Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16


Pray for each other so that - you - may be healed? Praying for others heals me? How? This word, healed, in the Greek actually means, to make whole; to free from errors and sins. Wow! I never thought of that before. When I take the time to pour out my heart on behalf of others, I am affected. A prayer imprint is forever embedded in my heart. My relationship with Jesus deepens. Oh Lord, remind me to pray for others!


Challenge for the (rest of this) Week... When you tell someone that you will pray for them... Do It! Follow through with that commitment to pray. In fact, here is a Double Challenge... when you tell someone you will pray do it right then... in the grocery store, on the phone, at work, at church, during exercise class, in the yard. I find if I pray right then I am more sensitive to the Holy Spirit's nudge to pray later! Almost as if it becomes a Prayer Imprint reminding me to continue that prayer commitment. 


CARLA CAN BE REACHED FOR MORE INSIGHT AND POWERFUL TEACHING AT HER WEBSITE.
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WOMEN OF DYNASTY, DYNAMIC PRAYER & DESTINY

SPECIAL MOTHER'S DAY SERIES: 

TODAY, THE CONCLUSION: MARY!

In honor of some of the more impactful mothers of the Bible, let’s take a look at four mothers briefly: RAHAB, RUTH, HANNAH and of course – MARY!

Rahab and Ruth were women of Dynasty.

Hannah was a woman of Dynamic Prayer.

Mary – the mother of Jesus – a woman of Destiny!
Three of these Four Women are directly in the Line of Jesus - the King of the Universe, LORD and Savior of Mankind!

MARY, a woman of Destiny:
A lot has been written about this young woman who was chosen by the Holy Spirit to carry the Lord Jesus during His onetime incarnation as God Who became man, so that the world may be saved!  The name Mary is derived from the Hebrew word Mariam and means “wise woman”!
From the beginning of Mary’s rendezvous with Destiny, she carried herself with wisdom, understanding and obedience.  Nothing she did suggested otherwise!

In the male-dominated culture she came from, where women could not even read the Torah, Mary’s God- anointed wisdom helped her through the most difficult time when it became known this most likely young woman was pregnant while engaged to a man called Joseph!

A few incidents in her life may have had her scratching her head, yet she remained humble and obedient, yet full of boldness and determination! Witness the following:

-       There was the time, when He was 12 years old that He disappeared after a short visit to the temple. Jesus was missing as the family were all heading back home from Jerusalem!!!  Jesus’ answer (to Mary) for being found teaching and interacting with the elders in the Temple (while he was 12!!!) is priceless: “I must be about my Father’s Business”!

-          During the wedding in Cana (John 2: 1-11), Jesus’ reaction to Mary’s may have seemed harsh to the unsaved eye but …well, here is Verse 10 “Jesus said to her, [Dear] woman, what is that to you and to Me? [What do we have in common? Leave it to Me.] My time (hour to act) has not yet come”.  Mary was acting like any good mother would by thinking her Son would make it right when the wine ran out!! He did!!  She completely ignored what He said in Verse 10 and went ahead telling the wedding hosts to do whatever Jesus said to do!

-          Jesus refused to see Mary and her other children in Matthew 12:46-50 because we all know his four brothers and two sisters did not believe in Him while He was alive! In fact quite the opposite! They thought He was mad and tried to take charge of Him and take Him home…so He just wanted to have nothing to do with them at that time.  You would think Mary would know better since she was told at the Conception, who Jesus really is! But her mortal side won out here, for the time being.

-         Contrary to some beliefs, Mary did not live and die a Virgin. She had other children. Her sons with Joseph (after the Firstborn Jesus was born) were James, Jude, Simon and Joses. His two sisters are not named. It is recorded that none of them believed in Him at the time. In fact when the Lord was dying on the Cross, He looked at His young Disciple  John (NOT His own brothers) and told him to take care of His earthly mother – Mary! This was Jewish custom and NOT Jesus declaring her as equal to Him or “co- redeemer”! Again His own half-brothers were nowhere to be seen because they did not believe until after the Resurrection. The eldest of the four sons, James, later ran the main church in Jerusalem and was killed by the Pharisees while Jude’s book is a masterpiece in only 25 verses!!!

These incidents throughout the Life of the Greatest Man Who ever lived do not detract from the heart of His earthly mother. Like Hannah, her true heart was revealed in her prayer (now called the Magnificat).

MARY’S PRAYER
While Hannah’s prayer was out of despair and brokenness at first and then praise later on, Mary was just aglow with Praise to Abba Father for His Amazing Grace in choosing such a humble woman, from poor origins, as her to be the vessel through which Christ the Savior of the World was to be born.

This prayer speaks for itself without commentary….remembering it is from the heart of the greatest mother who ever lived, who gave birth to the Savior Himself, yet needed His Redemptive act on the Cross to save her, just as He saved all the rest of us!
Amen.

Here is the Magnificat from Luke 1:46-55 ESV:

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 

WOMEN OF DYNASTY, DYNAMIC PRAYER & DESTINY

SPECIAL MOTHER'S DAY SERIES: 

TODAY: HANNAH!

In honor of some of the more impactful mothers of the Bible, let’s take a look at four mothers briefly: RAHAB, RUTH, HANNAH and of course – MARY!

Rahab and Ruth were women of Dynasty.

Hannah was a woman of Dynamic Prayer.

Mary – the mother of Jesus – a woman of Destiny!
Three of these Four Women are directly in the Line of Jesus - the King of the Universe, LORD and Savior of Mankind!

HANNAH, a woman of Dynamic Prayer:

We have all known and/or heard stories of mothers who prayed for their children all their lives. Some pray for their salvation or their coming back to the Lord. Many pray for life and career circumstances, or a family issue. No matter what, there is nothing like the prayers of a mother!

Honore de Balzac said “the heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness”…and so a mom prays.

 George Elliot said “A mother's yearning feels the presence of the cherished child even in the degraded man”….there is nothing like a mother praying for a lost son or daughter, who has been caught up in the vortex of worldly sin.

I love this Irish proverb “A man loves his sweetheart the most; his wife the best, but his mother the longest”!

Then there is this Jewish proverb “God could not be everywhere and therefore He made mothers”.

All of these underscore the character of a mother, whose heart is always for her children. So when Godly Hannah could not have a child, and most likely, was beginning to feel less than a woman, she did the only thing we know how to do in a crisis – PRAY!

The setting is the Shiloh where the Lord’s Presence had been. Many came from the tribes of Israel up to Shiloh to worship the Holy One of Israel as will be required of the Nations during the 1000 years reign of Jesus Christ. Just as an aside – even with Jesus sitting on His Throne in the Temple in Jerusalem, there will be people still being born etc. who will rebel and REFUSE to go up to Jerusalem and worship Him, annually! No need to tell you what will happen after that!

At this time, God’s priests were the sons of Eli – Hophni and Phinehas and He had in mind a Godly man to be His next priest! The reason for this is the following: Hophni and Phinehas made some American Televangelists look like Snow White! Their aging father Eli, a major minister of the Lord, never disciplined his sons, and contrary to the Law, participated in their skimming MORE than their portion of the priestly food! Not just the corruption and bribery, but old Hophni and Phinehas were sleeping with every woman they could…violating the Holiness of God – RIGHT INSIDE THE TEMPLE.

HANNAH’S PRAYER:

Here is her prayer which was so fervent that the insufferable Eli, who ignored his sons’ transgressions, accused Hannah of being drunk! 

The Word of the Lord: "She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” (1 Samuel 1:10-11 ESV)


Let’s take a closer look at the methodology of her prayer because it contains lessons for not just moms, but anyone whose heart seeks after God and feels a tremendous burden to intercede or simply beg for HELP! We look at it seriatim, in bullet form order:

-          Hannah was in deep, gut wrenching sorrow at being childless and all that went with it.

-          Hannah began praying, with tears in complete brokenness before the Throne.

-          Hannah sought a quid pro quo, almost!

-          Hannah then made promise in her supplication.

-          Hannah fulfilled her promise after Samuel the future Prophet was born, when God answered her prayer!

There had to be complete brokenness before the Lord for Him to open up Heaven and release a baby to be born to Hannah. You see this all through her prayer. However, while her belief and faith that God could do what she asked, what was even MORE impressive was her selfless sacrifice and devotion to God!

God not only made her complete as a woman of God and a mother, but He was glorified because of His Grace to this humble woman. In a sense, Hannah is similar to the next Great Mother in the Bible, whom history will talk about until the end of time! Like Mary, Hannah gave her son to the Service of the Lord. Unlike Mary though, Hannah’s son was not God Who became man!

TOMORROW: MARY - THE GREATEST MOTHER OF THEM ALL!

SPECIAL MOTHER'S DAY SERIES: WOMEN OF DYNASTY, DYNAMIC PRAYER, DESTINY

FOUR GREAT MOTHERS OF THE BIBLE!

TODAY: RAHAB

Each year,  as we celebrate our mothers, it’s always a delight to look at some of the amazing women in the Bible and the major role they played in the chain of events, which gave us the Greatest Story Ever Told!

We all know and believe we have the greatest mom ever, and that is as it should be!!However, how did some of the more unlikely women of the Bible ended up affecting so much that means, literally the world, to so many?

The answer is – we don’t know! God chooses whomever He pleases to do whatever He wants in the Timing of His Own choosing, period! As He says “My Ways are NOT your ways”, declares the LORD.

Therefore, in honor of some of the more impactful mothers of the Bible, let’s take a look at four mothers briefly: RAHAB, RUTH, HANNAH and of course – MARY!

Rahab and Ruth were women of Dynasty.

Hannah was a woman of Dynamic Prayer.

Mary – the mother of Jesus – a woman of Destiny!

Three of these Four Women are directly in the Line of Jesus - the King of the Universe, LORD and Savior of Mankind!

RAHAB, a woman of Dynasty:

The story of Rahab, the gentile prostitute, begins in Joshua Chapter 2 as she comes on the scene when Joshua sends two scouts into Shittim to view the land of Jericho for the Israelites. The King of Jericho found out about it and sent his secret police into the town to find the Joshua’s men.

Rahab had heard of the Mighty God of Israel, as had all the people in that region who encountered God’s General Joshua, to their everlasting misfortune!  The two men showed up at this prostitute’s house, whose heart had been on fire after hearing about this Great God in Heaven. We all know the rest of the story - Rahab hid Joshua’s scouts from the pagan King of Jericho and saved their lives.

But what is so relevant to Rahab's story is her testimony here….as we pick up the passage "...and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 

Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. (Joshua 2:9-15 ESV)

So, Joshua’s army spared Rahab and her family.

But look at her words closely:

-          She heard of the mighty deeds of the Lord

-          She heard of the Judgment of the Lord

-          She had a broken heart before the Lord

-          She had to have had an encounter with Him because NO ONE testifies (vs. 11) about the LORD you GOD, without knowing Him intimately

-          She hailed Him as the God of Heaven and Creator of the Earth

-          She heralded Him as the Plumbline of Truth in making the scouts swear to spare their lives….which they did!

All of this represents a completely changed woman from her former occupation! Even though Scripture still called her Rahab the Harlot in Joshua 6:17, let us fast forward to the New Testament to see how the Holy Spirit describes the new creature who was in the only group of people saved from destruction in Jericho!

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO RAHAB?

She is mentioned in James 2:25 as a woman who was made right by her act of hiding Joshua’s men.

Then she has a surprising appearance in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:31 (ESV) “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies”

Even more exciting than her appearance in the Hall of Faith is Matthew 1:5 which places Rahab directly as the mother of the great Kinsman- redeemer himself – Boaz! Who is Boaz? Read the next section on Ruth. 

Of all the great Tribes of the Israel and the nobles and elders, the Lord chose a poor little Gentile harlot – Rahab – to be the great-grandmother of none other than – KING DAVID! AND if that was not big enough, Rahab’s husband Salmon goes all the way back to Abraham!

Rahab is one of the most Godly and exceptional heroines of the Bible!!

TOMORROW: RUTH....another woman of Dynasty!

Photo Credits: http://bibleencyclopedia.com/pictures/Joshua_2_Rahab_and_the_spies_3.htm