Pray Without Ceasing

1st Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."

There are huge benefits to having a set prayer time each day. This is a sadly overlooked spiritual discipline in the church today. There are many reasons for this and even more creative ways to overcome the excuses. I am going to leave this discussion to men and women infinitely more qualified than I am (we are featuring two excellent books on prayer this month and I cannot urge you strongly enough to read both!)

The topic I want to discuss today revolves around the central point in every believer's life that prayer should have. Outside of a regular time set aside for the single reason of prayer, Christians should be praying throughout the day. The first thought on your mind when something good happens should be a quick breath of prayer to the One who sent it. The first groan of your heart when something sad happens should be to the Comforter. Your first words when you become angry should be to the Lord.

As Christians, we have all been adopted into the family of God. We are His daughters and He expects and desires us to come to Him as His children. What heart of a father is not made glad by hearing of his daughter's joy? What father does not offer comfort when a daughter is in tears? What father does not protect when a daughter is afraid, does not provide to a daughter in need, does not give instruction when a daughter desires to learn? Sisters, we have a perfect Father in heaven! Bring everything in your life to Him, throughout the day, as it comes up!

There are massive benefits to this kind of prayer including:

• A greater binding of your heart to Him
• Less opportunity for sin (have you ever tried to sin while praying? its possible...but it is HARD!)
• A greater awareness of witnessing opportunities
• Increased communion with your Savior
• A deeper reliance on God and a gradual disappearing of self-reliance
• Increased awareness to answered prayers
• Greater opportunities for thankfulness
  
• Greater opportunities for seeking forgiveness

May I encourage you today to continually come to the Lord in prayer? Before long it becomes almost automatic and I cannot tell you how many wonderful times of prayer I've had that were sparked by what started as simply a quick, "Father, protect me!" or "Father, thank you!"

My Family

As I think about the privilege we have a God's children to go before Him and pour out our hearts to Him; I wonder why I withhold so much at times from Him when I struggle. I mean it is not as though He is clueless! I am comforted by the fact that He is a gracious Father who cares for me.

This has been an interesting and tough year in many ways. We have been stripped of our supposed self sufficiency in many ways. We have experienced disappointment and loss; yet have gained much in seeing the God we love at work. And though it has been a painful process at times, we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to see more of God and be more fully satisfied in Him. We continue to taste His goodness day after day, hour after hour. Our God seems more precious to me all the time.

So, now I will share with you some things you could bring before our sovereign and compassionate Heavenly Father for my family.

• That we would encourage each other to persevere in faith all the more.
• Pray that we would serve my grandparents and others around us with the gospel as our motivation.
• Pray we would continue to see God providing, and that we would be content with where He has us ministry wise, job wise, and health wise.
• Pray that our great provider would provide Rick with adequate work this year.
• Pray that Rick will persevere through his school with humility and excellence.
  
• Pray that I would fill my role as Rick's helpmate for the sake of the gospel.
• Pray that Noelle and Jackson will grow in their love for Jesus.
• Pray for Calvin, Silas and Gabe to repent and turn to Jesus.
• Lastly, I ask that you pray that we would be kept by God and faithfully serve Missio Dei Fellowship in true humility, love and steadfastness.

Thank you.

John Monks/Larry Miller

Today we have the privilege of hearing from two of our deacons, Larry Miller and John Monks. Please keep these men in prayer as they minister to the body of Missio Dei in very real and practical ways. They are both a great blessing in my life. Below are some specific ways that they have said they would appreciate prayer in the upcoming year.


Please pray that I would have the wisdom to lead the ministries of the church and enable them to align with the missional purpose of our church, and that the other deacons would embrace this as they make decisions. Also that we would be able to promote a sense of community in Christ as we add new Believers into our fellowship.
Thank you,
John Monks


I would simply like to ask you to pray that what ever endeavor I have as a deacon in the future that God will be glorified by it.
Larry Miller

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy SACRIFICE, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the WILL OF GOD is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Hello Ladies, happy new year! I cannot believe it is 2010 already; time goes by way too fast. I hope you all enjoyed your new years celebrations.

The beginning of a new year is always a unique time. Many spend time looking over the past year and marveling at how much was able to transpire in such a short time. If you are anything like me, you are astounded at the amount of sin you managed to squeeze in! I am always dumbfounded looking back over a year of selfish, prideful, sinful activity. It is so easy to grow complacent caught up in the moment, in the day to day activities that consume our lives. I sin so much more often than I am even aware of.

This is one of the many reasons that we at the True Women blog have decided to start this year off in a specific and purposeful way. In January, we will focus on prayer. We will feature prayer requests from several of the leaders of our church, book reviews on a couple books dealing with prayer, and several prayer discussions. Remember to check in on the weekends for examples of Scripture to pray through!

In February we will focus on the gospel. Jasmine and I both start off each new year by reading the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney and so we are going to do an online study of this excellent book. I hope that you are all able to join us! We will be starting this very quickly in February, so make sure and get the book now if you plan to participate. We will also be doing other gospel oriented posts. Any of you who have been reading this blog for any length of time know the importance that we place on the gospel for every day living.

I cannot think of a better way to start a new year than by focusing my mind on the gospel and prayer. Please join us as we prepare to start 2010 off in a God-honoring, Christ exalting way.

For God's glory and our good,

Nichole