Category: Christian Life

When you look around at everything we are experiencing in our world, it can create a lot dismay: Racial injustices, hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorism, the prospect of war between nations, church shootings, youth suicides, sexual abuse, human trafficking and moral confusion. It leaves us wondering. What can I or we do? I’m just one person or we are just few. That’s when the Lord speaks to us and says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”  James 5:16-17 (NIV)  Is prayer really that powerful? E.M. Bounds said, “God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil.”  Dr J. Edwin Orr was a leading scholar of revivals. After extensive research he summarized his findings:  “There has never been...

The Lord is calling people to a full-time ministry occupation that I refer to as an intercessory missionary. I define an intercessory missionary as one who does the work of the kingdom from the place of prayer and worship, while embracing a missionary lifestyle and focus. Others may define this term in a different way. At CFWPC, as a rule, we ask those who embrace this full-time occupation of “intercessory missionary” to commit to fifty hours per week, including being in the prayer room for at least four hours a day, six days a week. People sometimes ask me what an intercessory missionary is and where it is in the Bible. In principle, this calling and occupation is found throughout the Bible. In this article, I will briefly mention where this calling is found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, particularly in end-time prophecy, its presence throughout church history, and how it is being embraced today in contemporary...

DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A PRAYER WARRIOR? So many bad circumstances take place in this fallen world – such as illness, crime, accidents, and conflicts – that it’s easy to get so discouraged that you simply let it all happen without fighting it. But you actually have more control over bad situations than you may realize. Evil is behind much of the bad that happens in the world, and God has given you the ability to fight evil and overcome it with good through the most powerful weapon possible: prayer. What is a Prayer Warrior? God calls all believers to fight in the spiritual battles that are constantly taking place, where evil causes suffering but God works to redeem it for good purposes. Those who say “yes” to God’s call – prayer warriors – participate in the world’s most important work. Prayer warriors see the battle and consistently take action by coming before God.  How Can I Become a Prayer Warrior? Understand that...

One Sunday afternoon my wife was in bed with a high fever, groaning and unable to sleep. I was lying next to her praying. I actually wasn’t mainly praying for her. I was in a season of significant spiritual wrestling, which was absorbing most of my prayers. But I remember being filled with hope over some precious promises of God and expressing thanks to him. Suddenly, my joy in God grew unusually intense. It was both inexpressible and irrepressible. God seemed almost tangibly near. I was almost overcome and I couldn’t help overflowing in awe-filled worship. Almost immediately I knew, without doubt, that if I prayed for Pam, she would be healed. I laid my hand on her back, prayed very simply in Jesus’s name and immediately my hand sensed her body temperature drop and she was instantly asleep. She got up later completely healed. One weekday a group of us at church had gathered to pray for a brother who...

(Scripture Portion: Luke 11: 1-13; 18: 1-8) To the born again soul, prayer is as essential as breathing, and to neglect it must result in weakness and defeat. It is not only important that Christians should pray, but it is of supreme importance. This fact makes our present study one to which we should give special heed. Christians need instruction about prayer –- its meaning, its promises, its method and its value –- look up Luke 11:1. How wonderful to be taught to pray by John; how much more wonderful to be taught by the Lord Jesus! –- and look up Romans 8:26-27. What is prayer? C. H. Spurgeon said that, “The heart of prayer is the prayer of the heart.” It does not consist simply of words, gestures, forms or eloquence. “Prayer is the address of a poor creature on earth to a great Creator and loving Father in Heaven.” Think about this simple definition; it reveals the supreme wonder of...