PRAYER FOR AFGHANISTAN SITUATION AND MORE

Heavenly Father, on this most glorious day, we thank You for Your Faithful promises, grace, compassion, mercy and love which wakes up each morning and gives us our next breath.

Thank You, oh God, for bringing us to the start of a new week.

Thank You for the Hope of Eternal Life, which is guaranteed to all who have repented, believed the gospel and belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, Your Only Begotten Son.

Thank You for the calling on our lives to serve You and the Kingdom, and the fact that You have equipped us to do so even in our lowly estate.

Thank You for the Holy Spirit Who seals us until the Day of Redemption, and Who teaches, guides and directs into the paths of all truth.

Lord on this day, we remember all who have given all in the service of the King - Jesus. From Stephen the first Martyr, who spoke Truth to corruption in the Book of Acts, to Tyndale who brought the Bible to the English speaking world to so many others who are too numerous to mention. Lord, we remember the sacrifice of the Burnhams in the Philippines over twenty years ago and Your great servants Jim Elliott and Nate Saint who gave it all that may be saved in Ecuador.

So, most Gracious God, today and this week, we pray into Your Mighty Hands, the fate of our wonderful missionaries who are trapped in Afghanistan and have almost no way out. They may be abandoned by the world but they are foremost in Your Eyes.

Lord, many have been left behind as a disastrous 20 year war has officially ended. However oh most gracious God in heaven, the pain and suffering for so many is just beginning.

We pray for the grieving families of lost US military personnel- all thirteen families who lost their dear, young loved ones so tragically last week. Comfort them in their affliction, shock and sadness.

We pray for the many who were horribly injured in that incident in the Kabul airfield, and the other hunters of soldiers who witnessed the attack. Many will come back with post traumatic stress syndrome - PTSD.

We pray, oh Lord, that many will turn to you, will stick your face and the comfort and love and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We pray that they will get the correct treatment that they need, and that the local church will be the source of support and love and mercy and compassion for these returning soldiers in their communities and bases around the United States.

We pray for the people of Afghanistan, who suffered terribly for 20 years and now will suffer even more, due to lack of freedom and humanity by those from the powers of darkness, who have taken over their government. God bless them, make Your Face to shine upon him and, Give them Your peace that passes all understanding in Jesus Name.

We pray, Heavenly Father, for those who have caused this disaster by wrong and even short term selfish decisions that caused people to get hurt.

We pray that they will seek Your forgiveness and do better from now on.

We pray, as well, with those who are suffering from Covid disease, young and old who are close to death due to this problem, and the pandemic. Lord, please send a Mighty Rushing wind and your cleansing fire…..please clean out the potential from the disease to harm people and to keep multiplying itself to make so many others so very ill.

Father on this day we pray to you, Almighty God for fresh wind, a fresh fire, that will unfold in Your people. We pray that the power of the Holy Spirit will run right through us and emboldened us, We pray that we may be under the power of Your love, by the grace You have given us, love so many others to Christ, especially in these last dark and scary days.

May You continue to give us the opportunity, the will , and the means to reach out to so many others, in prayer, word and deed….and May it be all for Your glory in the Mighty Name of Jesus, amen and amen!

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY TWELVE:

VERSE:

As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him....(1 John 2:27)

PRAYER:

Most gracious, kind merciful Heavenly Father, Who gives all things to all all people, we thank You for the special "chrisma" (gift of anointing) You have given Your anointed and those upon whom You have placed a special calling to reach, teach, preach and outreach to a lost and dying world. These are those who are truly called by Your Name, those who have been reborn and brought into the Kingdom of Your Son.

Because You have given us Your Spirit, we cannot be deceived by the god of this world and even if distracted, we shall soon learn the errors of our ways. There are some things which bible colleges, Sunday School teachers and preachers cannot teach and that is how to listen to You, how to respond to You and how to obey the promptings and directions which Your Holy Spirit, Who is our true friend in the Faith imparts and inputes into us. He infuses more oil and blessing daily from our first calling on our lives and the Truth can only be found in Him.

So most compassionate, gracious and long-suffering God, we lift up on this special day of recognition of Your anointing on the lives of your true followers, those who take this Word across the globe. We lift up Your missionaries who abide and rest more on You for their moment by moment nourishment, guidance, protection and direction than the rest of us. Lord, not only are Your true missionaries, i.e., those whom You have actually sent out to dangerous and seemingly unproductive lands, not only are they solely dependent on You, but sometimes they lose courage in the face of evil persecution as seen with Your servants the Burnhams when Martin was killed by islamic guerrillas in the Philippines in 2002. Lord as the flesh told Gracia, his dear wife to see revenge, Your Grace and Your Love encouraged her to show love, mercy and compassion. Because of that, she "learned to fly again" and won many more souls to Christ, a testimony for us not to give up and even in the pain and suffering in her own family, to see the bigger picture of the Love You have, which put Christ on the Cross.

Father, we also pray for those of us who are missionaries in our own "Jerusalem"- namely outside our own front doors. May we never tire of the hard work that it is to reach on and teach and care for the lost when their hearts are so hard and they literally hate You, while professing to love and know You at Christmas and Easter time. Father, we pray for those of us that we persevere, never give in, never give up and in fact live up to the standards and the call with which You have have called. We do this because Your Call is True, Your Word is True, Your Love is True and Your Promises are Yes and Amen....and we believe it, because of Jesus Christ, our soon coming Lord and Savior, in His Name, amen.

TEBOW & PUJOLS - CHRIST OR MAMMON?

Very few athletes have been making as huge headlines recently than football's Tim Tebow and baseball's Albert Pujols. Both men have been known to wear their 'testimony' on their sleeves.


Love 'em or not, both men have people talking not just about their public professions of Faith in Jesus Christ. However, by doing so, they have invited more scrutiny on their individual lives to see if their talk matches their walk!

Albert Pujols with his idol...er..statue

This is actually not a bad thing, as many a so-called "Christian Athlete" has fallen  hard on  their face, making all their talk about "Jesus is my Savior" a laughing stock to a cynical word.  Christian ministries are actually partially to blame for this, because they fall all over themselves, to hire this or that newly minted celebrity athlete, who happens to say that he believes in the bible or is a "christian"! I have yet to hear of some poor soul say that he/she got saved because Kurt Warner or Deion Sanders spoke at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet!


The latest example is current Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd. After claiming Christ, the Bible and a picture perfect family life, the Feds just arrested him last week, for running a Cocaine/Marijuana ring worth millions of dollars! When he was arrested last Friday and charged, the news media led with the fact that he was a man who quoted the Bible and spoke to others in need.


Both Pujols and Tebow do not fall into this category because neither have committed any type of crime. However both men have to guard their conduct - personal and professional, because the reputation of Christ rests on it.


Baseball's Albert Pujols has already lost credibility. Last winter, when the negotiations started with the St. Louis Cardinals over the kind of money and contract he wanted, his reputation as the most God-fearing and loved man on the team, came into question. Many saw a different side of a man whom an entire St. Louis region put on a pedestal.


By the time CHRISTIAN DAY at the Park (Busch Stadium) came by on August 3, resentment against him was building. I was working at Gate 8 of the Cardinals-Rockies late game as we passed out baseball cards with 5 players's favorite bible verses at the back of it. I found out later this was universal, but Pujols' card was no longer the favorite! Sure this is anecdotal, but the fans already suspected he was not all he seemed.


These players - from Lance Berkman to Pujols - spoke somewhat eloquently about their so-called faith in Christ when the time for speechifying came before the remaining 8000 fans on that Christian Day. However, when the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series and each of these same men had the chance to tell the world about Jesus, not one of them - not Pujols or Berkman - said a thing. When it came right down to it, they thanked themselves.


This is the difference between these people and Tim Tebow. Tebow gives credit to Jesus, at the end of every touchdown or when he won those two NCAA Football titles at Florida. Pujols went on to sell out his standing in the eyes of God and man to the highest bidder, for a massive $250 million/10 year contract (massive for a fading star). After he sold out all those who looked up to him as some kind of saint, he said God told him to do it!!! The question is, did God also tell him to turn down the $230 million from the Miami Marlins or the $170 million from St Louis, where he already had a ministry and a base etc..??!!! 


Tim Tebow was given a $2.5 million signing bonus last year, when he signed with the Denver Broncos Football team. He gave it all away! He is building a hospital in the Philippines where his Baptist parents are missionaries and has already said he gains more satisfaction in humanitarian work and missions than anything else. 


He takes a knee publicly on the sideline and prays out openly after he scores or wins a game. This has begun a national phenomenon called "Tebowing". You are not going to believe this, but the practice of praying after a touchdown so openly has made Tebow a favorite with Orthodox Jewish Rabbis, of all people! They do not agree with his personal belief in Christ, but admire completely his devotion to God! This is the kind of effect a sold out man can have on the world.


The big problem for Tebow is - people are waiting for him to fall. Every man of God, who seems so perfect, has the biggest bullseye on his back. 


He will be set up by those who will exploit his weakness for beautiful girls.
He will be watched as far as his lifestyle (re: alcohol, going out and any parties).
He will be a focus of stories from inside the locker room, as to "what kind of guy Tebow really is". 
He will be examined with the media microscope from hell. 
The same media who is putting him on the cover of every sports magazine and the top of every TV highlight, will go ape, to try and destroy him, if or when he makes even the most minor of slip-ups.


The thing for him to do, is when trials and temptations come, as they will to a young vibrant and single man, is to NEVER take his eyes of Jesus. Never lose his integrity and never stop praying with humility and fervor.


The other potential pitfall is his tendency to seek a limelight for his praise. Jesus said to go to your prayer closet and don't do like the pharisees. This is a special dispensation. It would be a lot better if he were to go back to the bench and pray obviously and not in such a flashy way, but Tebowing is what it is...and it IS Christ-honoring. May it continue to be completely real and may God continue to watch over His young whipper-snapper, Tim Tebow!

(Images courtesy Google images)