newsjul05aug05

YOU'VE BEEN CALLED TO MINISTRY
Rev. Verna Brown - July-Aug. 05

But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 NIV

I’ve seen many Christian leaders who have
suffered in ministry, and consequently in their
families, because their relationship with the
Lord, and their family became secondary to
their ministry to others. Their identity became
so wrapped up in their title and the promotion
of their ministry, that it became an idol in their
life. Early on in our ministry of Soul Devotion I
could see the potential for this pitfall, and
made up my mind that I would fulfill my first
role, and that is to minister unto the Lord first
through prayer, praise and adoration. What I
discovered was a natural overflow of God’s
presence that enabled me to minister to the
needs of my family, and then to others. I
realized this was God’s divine order.
Every believer has been called to the royal
priesthood, and our first role is to worship God
and offer prayers of adoration and affection
that are focused on Him. This eternal role is far
more important than all the earthly roles we
perform such as our business titles, church
positions, etc… We have been chosen by God
as his very own, to love Him with ALL our
heart, ALL our soul, and ALL our strength.
Then beyond that, as a royal priest, we are to
represent Him to the people, helping to
reconcile others with God. As we spend time in
the “face place,” beholding His glorious face,
the virtue of His love floods us, enabling us to
minister His love to others. Let’s remember
that our value isn’t in our titles or what we do, it’
s because we are His.

Prayer: Lord help me to keep the main thing,
the main thing. You are first. I will put You first,
above all things. I love You, I adore You, I put
nothing before You. You are my Beautiful
Savior, my precious Redeemer, my Glorious…...

INTERCESSORY PRAYER
By Rev. Dana Waller - July-Aug. 05

“Therefore 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 NIV

I spent years as a Bible-believing, church-going
woman who understood neither the importance
of prayer, nor the power in it. I was a crisis
prayer, only interested in what I could “get” from
God when I couldn’t see a way out of the mess I
found myself in. I had prayer occasions, but I
had no prayer life.
Oh how differently I see things now. When I
yielded to the Holy Spirit, one of the first things
He did was to give me the desire to pray. It was
completely supernatural. I began to spend
hours with my Lord in the “face place”. No
expectations, no “gimme” list.
Two wonderful things happened as a result.
First, I came up from that place a changed
woman. I finally realized the purpose and the
power in prayer. But unlike before, I didn’t want
to abuse that power. I did begin to USE it,
however. Second, I learned how to pray for
others with fervency, determination and
perseverance. I became an intercessor. And
when my prayers began to get answers it just
added more fuel to the prayer “fire” that God had
started in me.
Our power source is prayer. We MUST know
how to tap into it. We MUST use that knowledge,
and apply it daily for our own lives and for the
lives of others. We can’t live with tunnel vision.
We all know people right now that need prayer.
The Holy Spirit is issuing a call for ALL believers
to intercede one for another. Will you answer
that call today?

Prayer: Thank you Jesus, for giving me access to
the throne of God today. Lord I believe that you
hear and answer prayer. Holy Spirit, I want to
spend time in your presence. Help me to pray.
Bring the needs of others to my mind, and teach
me how to stand in the gap for them with
diligence. In Jesus name, Amen.