Prayer is the proof of love, and love is produced by prayer!

Romans 10:1 (HCSB)
¹  Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation! 


Prayer Warriors,

         Today the Lord was speaking to my heart about my Love for people and what this looks like! Paul loved his fellow Jews, how he desired to see them saved. He even said, in  Romans 9:3 (HCSB) ³  For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood. He was willing to go to hell, for their salvation. That they would come know Jesus Christ. They hated him, stoned him, beat him and threw him in jail.  Amazing, how could a man say this about his enemies?

           
           Prayers to God. Paul's prayers to His God was not just about changing the situation or the circumstance or even the other person but it was about changing His heart. God has put people in our lives to mold us and shape our Christian walk. Yes, even our enemies! It my be the prodigal son or daughter that you just wish would just come to their senses. The hurts we've experience from our spouses, mothers, or family members etc.... help shape the people we are. Jesus uses it all, everything we go through and who we go through it with.

                       
            I have to remind myself that it was my sin, put Jesus on the cross. Sometimes we generalize it and say" He died for all sins"  and He did but I need to see the cross and say"He died for my sins". My sin put Him on the cross. Jesus the Lamb of God who took our place, sits in heaven and prays and intercedes for you and me. Paul understood this, that's why he could pray for the one's who were persecuting him because at one time he was the one doing the persecuting. If God could transform a man like Paul and a sinner like me, then no one is out of the reach of God! I pray that God would produce that kind of love, His love, in you and me.

                                                        Blessing,

                                                               Christina 

Who do you say I am?

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is? ” 

14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

15“But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am? ”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God! ” 

17 And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. Matthew 16:15-17

Prayer Warriors,

  

        We will celebrate Easter and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I wonder how many of us really do understand the cross and what He did. I know there so much to it and you can study it endlessly but if your Father in heaven hasn't brought revelation through the Spirit, can we truly understand who He really is! Peter understood only because the Father had reveled to him. How many Christians are sitting in churches and don't really understand who He is? 

        We have to pray everyday that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to the unseen things ( spiritual realm) He the Father would give us revelation of who He is. Pray for our children and our love ones that the Holy Spirit would draw them to the Father and He would revel His son Jesus Christ. Then I believe something will take place down deep in the hearts of adult children, husbands, mothers, family, country.

         Communion is one of the ways that the Lord has really used in my family lives to revel more of who He is. He said, "Do it as often as you remember me." We do it as a family at home or My Husband and I will do it together or just my Lord and me. I want to know more and more of Him, so every time I take the bread and the juice, He washes all my sin's away, cleanses me from head to toe. He is on my mind and my family and the cross because it's all about what He did for us 2000 years ago! 

                                       Blessings,

                                              Christina   

Ephesians 6:18 (HCSB)
¹⁸  Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. 

Prayer Warriors:

Pray always. This obviously does not mean "always saying prayers." We are not heard for our "much speaking" (Matt. 6:7). "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thes. 5:17) says to us, "Always be in communion with the Lord. Keep the receiver off the hook!" Never have to say when you pray, "Lord, we come into Thy presence," because you never left His presence! A Christian must "pray always" because he is always subject to temptations and attacks of the devil. A surprise attack has defeated more than one believer who forgot to "pray without ceasing."
Pray with all prayer. There is more than one kind of praying: prayer, supplication, intercession, thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:1). The believer who prays only to ask for things is missing out on blessings that come with intercessions and giving of thanks. In fact, thanksgiving is a great prayer weapon for defeating Satan. "Praise changes things" as much as "prayer changes things." Intercession for others can bring victory to our own lives. "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).
Pray in the Spirit The Bible formula is that we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Romans 8:26-27 tells us that only in the Spirit's power can we pray in the will of God. Otherwise, our praying could be selfish and out of the will of God. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there was a small golden altar standing before the veil, and here the priest burned the incense (Ex. 30:1-10; Luke 1:1-11). The incense is a picture of prayer. It had to be mixed according to God's plan and could not be counterfeited by man. The fire on the altar is a picture of the Holy Spirit, for it is He who takes our prayers and "ignites" them in the will of God. It is possible to pray fervently in the flesh and never get through to God. It is also possible to pray quietly in the Spirit and see God's hand do great things.
Pray with your eyes open. Watching means "keeping on the alert." The phrase "watch and pray" occurs often in the Bible. When Nehemiah was repairing the walls of Jerusalem, and the enemy was trying to stop the work, Nehemiah defeated the enemy by watching and praying. "Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch" (Neh. 4:9). "Watch and pray" is the secret of victory over the world (Mark 13:33), the flesh (Mark 14:38), and the devil (Eph. 6:18). Peter went to sleep when he should have been praying, and the result was victory for Satan (Mark 14:29-31, 67-72). God expects us to use our God-given senses, led by the Spirit, so that we detect Satan when he is beginning to work.
Keep on praying. The word perseverance simply means "to stick to it and not quit." The early believers prayed this way (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4); and we also should pray this way (Rom. 12:12). Perseverance in prayer does not mean we are trying to twist God's arm, but rather that we are deeply concerned and burdened and cannot rest until we get God's answer. As Robert Law puts it, "Prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven; it is getting God's will done on earth" (Tests of Life, [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968]). Most of us quit praying just before God is about to give the victory. Not everybody is so constituted that he can sincerely spend a whole night in prayer, but all of us can persevere in prayer far more than we do. The early church prayed without ceasing when Peter was in prison and, at the last moment, God gave them their answer (Acts 12:1-19). Keep on praying until the Spirit stops you or the Father answers you. Just about the time you feel like quitting, God will give the answer.
Pray for all the saints. The Lord's Prayer begins with "Our Father"—not "My Father." We pray as part of a great family that is also talking to God, and we ought to pray for the other members of the family. Even Paul asked for the prayer support of the Ephesians—and he had been to the third heaven and back. If Paul needed the prayers of the saints, how much more do you and I need them! If my prayers help another believer defeat Satan, then that victory will help me too. Note that Paul did not ask them to pray for his comfort or safety, but for the effectiveness of his witness and ministry.

Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament - The Bible Exposition Commentary – New Testament, Volume 2.

Friend or Genie

1He was praying in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

2He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say:

Father,

Your name be honored as holy.

Your kingdom come.

3Give us each day our daily bread.

4And forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves also forgive everyone

in debt to us.

And do not bring us into temptation.”

Keep Asking, Searching, Knocking

5He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ 7Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9“So I say to you, keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  Luke 11:1-10

Prayer Warriors:

The disciples wanted to learn how to pray like Jesus, and he teaches them this prayer. It's interesting that he follows it up with this parable. It seems at first that he wants this man to beg for what he needs for his journey but remember He is a friend to the man lives in this house.
Why is Jesus's asking us to be persistence when it comes to prayer. Why do some prayers get answer at the moment it leaves your mouth and others we labor for months and even years? Jesus calls us" His friend." I love that! He wants to spend time with me, like a friend would. That's why He say's" Keep knocking don't stop, keep coming to me." I think if every prayer was answered at the moment we prayed it. God would have been no more then a genie in a bottle. He knows the heart of man, so instead He became a friend to man. Hallelujah!
Prayer warriors, we can not stop going to Him. We need to believe and have faith that God going to answer those prayers we've been praying for years. Is it hard at times, you better believe it but remember you have a friend in Jesus. So keep knocking on the door of heart of Jesus Christ.
          
                                     Blessing,
                                            Christina