Cry Out to the Lord E-Book

The Great Commandment Network

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 218

Beschreibung

Sometimes it's for you. Sometimes it's for your child, a family member or friend. Sometimes it's for our broken world. We've all been there ... We've cried out to the Lord.   Join noted authors like: Ronnie Floyd, Mark Williams, Dennis Gallaher, Dave Butts, Doug Beacham, Byron Paulus and Bill Elliff, Frances Chan, Kay Horner, Mark Batterson, Josh McDowell, Ed Stetzer, Anthony Evans, Nick Hall, Alton Garrison, Oscar Thompson, Dallas Willard and Sammy Rodriguez as they provide twenty unique studies in how to develop a Spirit-empowered faith, which will help you to:  - Learn to look up when everything around you is falling apart  - Call out to the Lord in humility and brokenness - Yield fully to the working and empowerment of His Spirit, rather than rely on your own power for spiritual transformation - Enter into bold and believing prayer for yourself, loved ones and the world around you - More deeply embrace the possibilities and calling of co-laboring with Jesus to live out his mission.This resource will help you cry out to the Lord and reset your walk with God!  

Leseprobe

BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC

Racine, Wisconsin, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

Copyright © 2016 Great Commandment Network

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5123-1 (hard cover)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5124-8 (e-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Permissions for all contributors’ content are covered by the original copyrights from which they were published. See the “About the Authors and Their Resources” page at the back of this book to contact the authors, learn more about their resources, or for any questions about their content. All Scripture quotations within each contributor’s excerpt are included exactly as in their original publication, and all credits apply that are covered under those respective articles.

Except in contributors’ articles, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright ©2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked NIV taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scriptures marked NASB taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Cover by Chris Garborg at www.garborgdesign.com

Interior by Kimberly Sagmiller at www.fudgecreative.com

Printed in China

16 17 18 19 20 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Preface

Introduction

SECTION 1

Preface: I Choose to Humble Myself and Seek His Face

1:

When Should You Call upon the Lord?

Ronnie Floyd

2:

Teach Us to Pray

Mark Williams

3:

Transformation through Prayer and Fasting

Jeremy Story

4:

Sabbath Rest

Dennis Gallaher

SECTION 2

Preface: I Will Turn from My Sin and Self-Effort

5:

A Proper Reaction to Personal Sin

Dave Butts

6:

On Our Knees

Doug Beacham

7:

Godly Sorrow: Key to Repentance

David Ferguson

8:

Revival Reality

Byron Paulus & Bill Elliff

SECTION 3

Preface: I Yield to His Lordship and the Spirit’s Fullness

9:

Throw Down Your Staff

Mark Batterson

10:

Life in the Spirit

Francis Chan

11:

A Call to Sacrifice

Kay Horner

12:

Revival Signs

Tom Phillips

SECTION 4

Preface: Enter Boldly into Believing Prayer

13:

The Bible: It’s All about Relationship

Josh McDowell

14:

Compelled by Love

Ed Stetzer & Philip Nation

15:

Turning a Nation to God

Tony Evans

16:

When We Pray, God Moves

Nick Hall

SECTION 5

Preface: Recommissioned for the Great Commission

17:

A Spirit-Empowered Disciple

Alton Garrison

18:

Concentric Circles of Concern

Oscar Thompson

19:

The Great Omission

Dallas Willard

20:

Behold the Lamb

Samuel Rodriquez

APPENDIX

About the Authors and Their Resources

Cry Out to the Lord: A Special Prayer Gathering of God’s People

About the Great Commandment Network

A Spirit-Empowered Faith

A Spirit-Empowered Disciple

Other Books in the Spirit-Empowered Faith Series

Preface

Sometimes it’s for you. Sometimes it’s for a child, your family, or a friend. Sometimes it’s for our nation or a broken world. We’ve all been there: we’ve all felt the need to personally cry out to the Lord.

•   There are times we CRY OUT TO THE LORD because we don’t know what to do. Our prayer to Him is a prayer of HUMILITY. Haven’t there been times when you have prayed Jehoshaphat’s prayer, “[Lord], we do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help?” (2 Chronicles 20:12).

•   There are times we CRY OUT TO THE LORD because we have messed up, chosen poorly, or gone against God’s plan for our lives. With REPENTANCE, you may have restored your relationship with the Lord by asking Him to give you “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3-4, NASB).

•   There are times when we CRY OUT TO THE LORD out of a desire to YIELD to His Lordship and hope for His Spirit to fill us and overflow through us (Ephesians 5:18).

•   There are times when we CRY OUT TO THE LORD in INTERCESSION. Haven’t there been times when you’ve poured out the burdens of your heart and carried the needs of others before Him, even when you didn’t know exactly what to pray (Romans 8:26)?

•   And certainly there are times when we CRY OUT TO THE LORD, asking Him to REENGAGE us in living out the Great Commission. Haven’t there been moments of prayer where you’ve asked the Lord of the harvest to reignite your passion for the lost and send you out (Luke 10:2)?

Cry Out to the Lord is designed to bring a fresh experience to these moments when we all cry out to God. The goal of this resource is to help you move beyond seeking to simply know or obey God’s truth and to move toward experiencing it. As we actually experience truth in our relationship with Jesus, He will lead us into a relational faith. It’s only a relational faith that will reset our walk with God.

In order to fully illustrate what a relational faith includes, we have defined forty different Spirit-empowered outcomes (see Appendix). Cry Out to the Lord is written with a focus on five of these outcomes:

1.  A Spirit-empowered faith consistently practices self-denial, fasting, and solitude rest.

2.  A Spirit-empowered faith lives out a passionate longing for purity and to please Him in all things.

3.  A Spirit-empowered faith yields to the Holy Spirit’s fullness as life in the Spirit brings supernatural intimacy with the Lord, the manifestation of divine gifts, and the witness of the fruit of the Spirit.

4.  A Spirit-empowered faith expresses disciplined, bold, and believing prayer.

5.  A Spirit-empowered faith champions Jesus as the only hope of eternal life and abundant living.

Just as we have all felt the need to cry out to God in a personal way, a Spirit-empowered disciple of Jesus is also committed to corporate times of prayer to the Lord. “Gather the elders…and cry out to the Lord” (Joel 1:14, NASB).

In response to the spiritual wake-up call on September 11, 2001, the Awakening America Alliance has been faithfully urging Christ’s followers to gather for Cry Out America prayer gatherings across the nation and to engage in an annual rhythm of prayer through the National Prayer Accord. This Cry Out to the Lord resource is designed to support these corporate gatherings where faith, civic, and community groups cry out to the Lord on behalf of our country. Additionally, the “Cry Out to the Lord Order of Worship” is a useful tool for pastors and church leaders who desire to host their own corporate prayer gatherings (see Appendix).

Imagine what could be different if thousands of churches, with millions of people gathered and with one voice cried out to the Lord in humility, repentance, yieldedness, intercession, and reengagement with the Great Commission! (Visit www.awakeningamerica.us for more information.)

Introduction

RESET YOUR WALK WITH GOD

When your computer or mobile device freezes, you know to hit the reset button. A reset restores the system to its original design. Hitting “reset” gives it a fresh start. So what happens when it’s something in your life that feels frozen? Do you ever wish you could start over? Everyone feels that at times. And Jesus is the reset. Jesus restores you to your original design. He gives you a fresh start. That’s what we hope this resource does for your prayer life. May it be a fresh start in your relationship with Jesus!

The Cry Out to the Lord resource is intended to serve the Reset Movement.

Reset is a work of anyone and everyone who wants to see Jesus bring hope to this generation and to this nation. Reset began as a prayer and dream of a young leader from North Dakota named Nick Hall, to see this generation unite around Jesus. The vision was never about one person or organization but a partnership around Jesus—and Jesus calls everyone.

Reset is not an organization. Reset is a prayer and a movement of people sharing the message of the hope Jesus brings when we pray it. The vision is not to facilitate a passive audience, but to catalyze an army of individuals who are actively praying to Jesus to reset their lives, their communities, and their cities—and actively seeking to live a life reset by Jesus. While there are organizations involved, the fuel of this movement is you.

The Reset Movement has identified four ways to start your reset. These four ingredients are the inspiration for calls to action that we have inserted into each of the writings by the authors in this resource.

LEARN

to Encounter Jesus

PRAY

and Experience Scripture

SHARE

with Others in Community

LOVE

Others in Community

The message of Reset is that Jesus can and will reset your life. And that same message and invitation is shared at Reset events. The events are a place to connect in person with others who are praying and living reset lives, hear stories of what Jesus is doing, and celebrate Jesus with hundreds and thousands of others who are praying for a reset. Go to www.resetmovement.com for more information.

Finally, The Great Commandment Network is thrilled to serve each contributor and ministry partner through this resource. Our resource development and training team serves various partners as they develop Spirit-empowered disciples who walk intimately with God’s Son, God’s Word, and God’s people. May Jesus richly bless the unity, commitment, and faith that Cry Out to the Lord represents.

Terri Snead

Executive Editor, Great Commandment Network

The Great Commandment Network is an international collaborative network of strategic kingdom leaders from the faith community, marketplace, education, and caregiving fields who prioritize the powerful simplicity of the words of Jesus to love God, love others, and see others become His followers (Matthew 22:37–40, Matthew 28:19–20).

SECTION 1

SECTION 1 PREFACE

I CHOOSE TO HUMBLE MYSELF AND SEEK HIS FACE

O LORD; attend to my cry!

Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

incline your ear to me; hear my words.

Wondrously show your steadfast love….

Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings.

(Psalm 17:1, 6–8 ESV)

A SPIRIT-EMPOWERED FAITH

consistently practices self-denial, fasting, and solitude. Let these authors encourage your Spirit-empowered faith:

•  Ronnie Floyd—When Should You Call upon the Lord?

•  Mark Williams—Teach Us to Pray

•  Jeremy Story—Transformation through Prayer and Fasting

•  Dennis Gallaher—Sabbath Rest

1

WHEN SHOULD YOU CALL UPON THE LORD?

From How to Prayby Ronnie Floyd

CRY OUT TO THE LORD

Lord, my hope is not in more money, a different government, a new relationship, or a change of circumstance. My hope is in You and You alone. I humbly declare, “Your ways are not my ways, and Your thoughts are not my thoughts.”

(Isaiah 55:8, paraphrased)

Help me to call upon You all the days of my life.

PREFACE

Scripture is clear that every Christian should practice calling upon the Lord in prayer. Like the psalmist David, we’re encouraged to pray personally: “I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears” (Psalm 18:6). And Joel 1:14 reminds us to pray corporately: “Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there.” When should believers call upon the Lord? Here are five situations in which Christians should call upon the Lord.

CALL UPON THE LORD ALL THE TIME

Do you call upon the Lord all the time or only when you need something? Do you call upon Him out of conviction or out of crisis? Is your life organized enough so that you can spend time daily time with Him in prayer? Do you have a plan that allows time for you to call upon the Lord in prayer? Your spiritual life should not have to be in an intensive care unit for you to pray. Calling upon the Lord continually demonstrates that we are depending upon the Lord rather than ourselves. Call upon the Lord all the time, every day.

CALL UPON THE LORD IN A TIME OF NEED

Just as parents love for their children to call on them in a time of need, God loves for His children to do the same. Calling upon the Lord in a time of need does not indicate a lack of faith, but an understanding that God is the ultimate object of our faith. God can do anything, anywhere, and at any time. He can provide for your need.

What kind of need do you have today? I do not believe God categorizes our needs as big or small. At times, we may be tempted to handle the small things and let God handle just the big things. It is as if we are saying “God, we know You are so busy that we will bother You with just the things that we know we cannot handle by ourselves.” Prayerlessness indicates dependence upon ourselves. This attitude is wrong. God wants us to come to Him in prayer about all of our needs.

What is your need today? Do you need healing? All healing takes place because of God. Do you need money? Honor Him with what you have, and He will provide for your need. Do you have a relationship that is strained? Only God can bring two hostile or opposing persons together. Do you have a material need? Call upon the Lord! He is able to meet even your material needs.

I believe that God creates needs in your life for the purpose of causing you to depend upon Him. He wants you to rely upon Him. He wants to do the impossible. He loves to show others that with Him all things are possible. Even before your need exists, God already has the supply.

LEARN to Encounter Jesus

He always lives to make intercession for [you]. (Hebrews 7:25, NASB)

Imagine that you walk into a room and find Jesus engaged in prayer. You may not hear the specific words He is using, but you are confident that Christ is praying for someone He dearly loves. You peer over Jesus’ shoulder and, to your surprise, your own prayer list is lying in front of Him. Jesus is praying for you—the Savior is praying for your needs, your temptations, and your heartfelt struggles. He is praying for the very vision, ministry, and calling that you hope to pursue.

How does it make you feel to know that Jesus intercedes on your behalf? He spends time talking to His Father about you—not judging you or condemning you, not in criticism or in ridicule. Jesus speaks to the Father and reminds Him of your needs, and He reminds Him of the price He paid on the cross so that you might have abundant life both now and forever. How does it make you feel to reflect on Jesus’ prayers for you?

As I reflect on how Jesus prays for me, I am filled with ________________________.

Finally, consider the reality that Jesus often prays to the Father about your needs, but He does so without you. Jesus prays alone. Is there something in your spirit that is prompted to join Him more often? Tell Jesus about that now.

Jesus, as I imagine You interceding for me—often without me—I feel ____________.

I want You to hear the feelings of my heart concerning ________________________.

I am so grateful for You _________________________.

CALL UPON THE LORD IN A TIME OF PURSUING THE FUTURE

Some of the most important decisions you will make in life have to do with planning your future. When pursuing what lies ahead, call upon the Lord. He is able to give to you guidance and wisdom in regard to your future. The Bible promises you a great life, wonderful welfare, and God’s peace as you call upon the Lord in prayer (see Jeremiah 29:11).

One of the pivotal questions each person must ask pertaining to his or her future is, God, what do You want me to do? My life is not my own; I belong to God. I am not owned by any man or any system. I am not the property of this world. I am God’s property. Since He owns the title to my life, I must take directions pertaining to my future from Him.

CALL UPON THE LORD IN A TIME OF WORSHIP

In moments of public worship, are you calling upon the Lord? Is your day for worship set aside for the purpose of worshipping Him? Before you go to worship at your church, talk to God. Summon Him to meet with you and the entire body of Christ that is sharing the experience with you.

Much of the worship in church life today is stale and powerless. As a result, lives are left unchanged. Could this be happening because we do not spend time calling upon the Lord in worship? Much of worship today centers on personalities and performance, rather than the Lord and His work in the lives of people. Worship should never be about the people in attendance. Worship should exalt the Lord Jesus and be focused on calling upon Him in prayer. Call upon the Lord in a time of worship.

PRAY and Experience Scripture

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us.… (Ephesians 1:5–6)

Take a few moments to consider the incredible truth that you have been brought into a relationship with the One of whom all these things are true. How does it make you feel to realize that you have the privilege to know, love, and be loved by such a Savior? What does it do to your heart to imagine that God smiles with pleasure when He thinks about you being a part of His family? Take a few moments to praise Him now for His gracious gift found in Christ Jesus.

Lord Jesus, as I think about the incredible privilege of having a relationship with You, my heart is filled with ___________________. (For example, gratitude, love, joy, praise, a sense of unworthiness, peace, awe, or wonder.)

I feel ___________________ when I imagine Your smile, because I’m a part of Your family. I praise You for loving me.

CALL UPON THE LORD IN A DESIGNATED PRAYER TIME

Do you have a designated time of prayer in your life? Make a date with God daily. Find a plan to follow. First things first! Get alone with God at the first of the day. Use this time to call upon the Lord in prayer. Let it be the time every day when you bare your heart to God about your life and your greatest needs. Take the time to listen to what He says to you after you share your heart with Him.

A final important suggestion: Make an appeal to the pastors and leaders in your church to set aside worship services that are dedicated solely to prayer. God can do more in a moment of prayer than in all the programs one church could do in a lifetime. Determine to make your church a praying church. Decide today, how you can walk alongside your pastor, helping him create a fellowship of believers who practice calling upon the Lord in prayer. Stand up and be different. Be a Christian who calls upon the Lord in prayer.

SHARE with Others in Community

Everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. (Luke 6:40, NIV)

Imagine Christ standing before you—the only true Teacher (Matthew 23:10), and the One who lives to make intercession for you (Hebrews 7:25). Your Teacher loves to pray; in fact, He lives to pray. Reflect on your opportunity to pray with Jesus. Then talk to a friend, family member, or mentor about your willingness and desire to become a person of prayer, just like your Teacher. Invite this person to pray with you on a regular basis.

LOVE Others in Community

Pause quietly to consider this question: Lord, who needs me to pray for them and call upon You to help them?

Lord, I call out to You on behalf of ____________________.

You know the needs, and I’m asking You to _______________.

By faith, I am claiming the promise that _________________.

How can I show Your love to this person?

2

TEACH US TO PRAY

From The Praying Church Handbook, Volume IIby Mark Williams

CRY OUT TO THE LORD

Lord, I cry out to You today. Help me to be still and listen to You. Open my eyes to see You more clearly. Open my ears to hear Your voice and then sense the things that are on Your heart. Help me make the things of God my priority. I pray with many Christians throughout the ages: Lord, teach me to pray.

PREFACE

Prayer is our simple but amazing privilege to communicate with the Lord, experiencing unhindered intimacy and fellowship with Him. Through prayer we boldly go into the throne room of the Almighty, the very dwelling place of the Most High. God loves our prayers—He loves to hear us talk to Him and He loves to show Himself mighty in answering what we ask of Him. In fact, the book of Revelation tells us that our prayers are like sweet perfume to the Lord—the fragrance of our worshipful hearts sweetens the presence of God (Revelation 5:8). How amazing would it be and how pleased would God be if every Christ-follower became a person of intimate prayer?

The one quality that seems to most characterize the life of Jesus Christ and makes the deepest impact upon His disciples was His prayer life. Jesus Christ was a man of prayer. Sure, He raised the dead. Sure, He brought sight to the blind. Sure, He made the lame to walk and the blind to see—but none of this was accomplished without prayer. Prayer was the driving force of His ministry. It was the energizing force of His life. Prayer was the passion of His very existence. When He walked into the temple and found those who were buying and selling oxen, sheep, and doves, others who were making merchandise of the gospel, He became enraged and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, took a chord and drove them out of the temple, and said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves’” (Matthew 21:13). He believed in prayer so strongly that He “spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).

Jesus practiced what He preached. Time and again, the Scripture reveals Jesus making prayer a priority. At all times and in all ways, Jesus prayed. Jesus prayed for Himself. Jesus prayed for His disciples! Jesus prayed for all who would believe on Him! Jesus prayed frequently! Jesus prayed faithfully! Jesus prayed fervently! Jesus prayed fruitfully!

Most importantly, right now, Jesus is praying for you! He is the great High Priest, and He ever lives to make intercession for us!

PRAY and Experience Scripture

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. (1 Chronicles 16:8)

Jesus was a model for us because He prayed for specific people. In fact, when Jesus told Peter that he was going to experience persecution, Jesus actually told him that he made the Savior’s prayer list. Luke reminds us, “Jesus said to Peter, ‘But I have prayed for you’” (Luke 22:32). But what’s more amazing is that Christ doesn’t just pray for Peter or for people who lived in the first century; He prays for you too. Isn’t it amazing to know that we have a historical Jesus, but we also have a contemporary Jesus? This is why the writer of Hebrews says that He is the “same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Pause quietly to picture Jesus bowed in prayer. When Christ finishes His prayer, He lifts His head and says the same to you: “Dear one, I have prayed for you.” He then begins to tell you about the prayers of protection that He is praying for your life, the prayers of provision and the divine intervention He has asked for on your behalf. Jesus explains all that He is sharing with the Father because He deeply cares for you. Now respond to Him in gratitude. Give Him thanks and declare His greatness.

Thank You, Lord, for being a present-tense, right-now Jesus. I’m grateful that You are praying for me because _________________. You are great because ________________________.