Day 30: Awaken me O Lord!

Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

   Bertha Smith was a Baptist missionary to China and Taiwan and
one of the leaders God used to fan the flames of revival in China
in 1927. During an intense time of political unrest the missionaries
were gathered together for prayer when the Holy Spirit stopped
Smith. Within her heart she was harboring unconfessed sin toward
another missionary in the room. Smith immediately confessed
her sin to the other missionary and the prayer meeting continued.
Heaven descended on the meeting, more hearts were broken
and sins were confessed. The result is what scholars call the Great
Shantung Revival of 1927.

   Awakenings start with repentant hearts. Therefore, it must begin
with me. Not someone else – but me. It’s time I understood the
verse for today more clearly. It’s not the church in America that
needs to repent – it is me. The earth is groaning; the Kingdom is at
hand. What then shall we do? Repent!

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to give you a broken heart over your sin
   • Pray for the church in America to be swept with a spirit of
repentance, for the Kingdom is at hand

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Day 29: Perspective

Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of
our faith…”

   Evelyn Christenson was the founder of “Christian Women’s
United” as well as an author, speaker and evangelical leader. She
promoted the interface of prayer with evangelism and always
had a way of bringing any conversation, committee meeting or
gathering back to God’s perspective. She would always say, “It’s
Jesus that we need. He will give us wisdom, hope and strength.
Jesus is always our answer. We must look to Him!”

   In this passage, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that we need
to constantly look to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith.
In fact, the word “looking” literally means “to fix your eyes on.”
Today the American church could become quite discouraged at
the moral and spiritual decline that seems to be ever increasing
in and around it. But, as this text reminds us, when those times
of doubt or despair come, may we look unto the Lord for His
perspective. Jesus is our answer!

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Lord to give you a heart focused on Jesus
   • Pray that the Lord will awaken the church in America to His
perspective

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Day 28: Glorification through Death

John 17:1 “Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify you.”

   On April 20, 1999, Rachel Scott lay dying from gunshot wounds at
Columbine High School when the shooters came back to taunt her.
They lifted her head up by her ponytail as she lay in pain and asked
her one simple question – Do you believe in God? She answered,
“Yes.” The gunman then shot her again, killing her. A year earlier
Rachel had written in her diary that she was willing to sacrifice
everything she had for the sake of following Christ. She had no idea
how prophetic her words would prove to be.

   In John 17:1 Jesus is praying toward the fulfillment of His mission.
He asked the Father to glorify Himself through the glorification of
Jesus. What did this prayer entail? The writer of Hebrews reminds
us in Hebrews 12:3, “Who (Jesus) for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.” The Kingdom moves forward as we
die to self in our prayers. How are you doing?

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to identify areas in your life that you need to die to
   • Pray for the church in America to die to self and focus on seeing
God’s will accomplished

praync.org

Day 27: Awaken to the harvest

Matthew 9:37-38 “The harvest truly is plentiful…Therefore
pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His
harvest.”

   Ripe tomatoes are good, but over ripe or spoiled tomatoes
are nasty. When harvesters neglect to judge the timing of the
ripened fruit accurately crops can be lost. In this text Jesus points
to a problem with the harvesting of souls for the Kingdom. The
problem is with laborers and their desire to join the harvest force.
It seems that He is teaching His followers that the struggle they
will face in seeing the Kingdom come in people’s lives rests in the
harvester’s camp.

   Two issues seem to surface: timing (recognizing the readiness of
the harvest) and motivation to go to the fields. Both are critical to
the harvest and both are connected and influenced by the other.
Both are also cured with the same remedy – prayer. Not just any
kind of prayer – urgent prayer toward the raising up and sending
out of the harvesters. Ever wonder why the gospel is moving
forward so slowly in North America? Why are workers so few in
your harvest fields? When awakening really takes place, believers
will awaken to the harvest that is in their midst.

Prayer Points
   • Pray for the Lord to awaken you and His workers to the harvest
that is all around them
   • Pray for the North American church to be devoted to prayer
toward the harvest

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Day 26: Devoted to a revived life

Colossians 4:12 “Epaphras… always laboring fervently for you
in prayers …”

   After being expelled from Yale University in 1743 the prospects of
David Brainerd’s fulfilling his call to the pulpit were growing slim.
Especially since a law had recently been passed that stated no
minister could be installed in a church unless they were a graduate
of Yale, Harvard or a European university. Brainerd was crushed
when his appeal was rejected and his expulsion became final. Yet,
despite this ruling, he continued to labor earnestly in prayer for
God’s direction. As providence would have it, Brainerd was later
licensed to preach during the Great Awakening and appointed by a
group of ministers as a missionary to the American Indians.

   Brainerd labored night and day in prayer and on foot taking
the gospel to the American Indians. He would often do so while
enduring physical and weather related hardship. On one such
occasion Brainerd hiked for miles through deep snow, praying
for those he would visit, coughing and spitting up blood from
his illness, asking God for their souls. Like Epaphras, he truly was
“laboring earnestly” for the souls of men. Soon after that event
Brainerd died of tuberculosis. When awakening comes, the result
will be lives that are devoted to living out the revived life. Keep
praying. It is worth it.

Prayer Points
   • Ask forgiveness for any apathy toward prayer and the sharing of
Jesus with others
   • Ask the Lord to give you a heart for prayer like Epaphras and
Brainerd

praync.org

Day 25: The east, the west, and our sin

Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He
removed our transgressions from us.”

   John Tauler (A.D. 1290-1361), a German evangelist, was greatly
respected in his day as a deeply spiritual leader who interfaced
a devoted spiritual life with preaching and ministry. Because of
great success in ministry, Tauler often struggled with self conceit
and arrogance. When he was 50, Nicholas of Basel confronted him
and challenged him to forgo his sin and to return to Christ. Tauler
subsequently stopped preaching for two years and spent that
time in prayer and the study of God’s Word. Tauler emerged from
that time of self-examination a changed man. His preaching was
different; it was aflame with the power of God resulting in many
conversions to Christ.

   Our sin is a serious matter before God. He is holy and must
punish sin. Yet, forgiveness and cleansing is also a serious issue with
Him. So much so that He sent His son Jesus to pay the penalty for
sin. The good part – we can put the past behind us with God. His
forgiveness is final, and even the guilt of our sin is taken away (see
Psalm 32:5). The verse of the day reminds us of that very thing –
our sin will never be seen again. Tauler experienced cleansing and
personal revival that resulted in a fruitful ministry because his sin
was cast away. Can you say the same thing?

Prayer Points
   • Pray for Jesus to search your heart revealing any spiritual pride
and conceit
   • Ask the Lord to forgive your sin and take away any lingering guilt
you have not surrendered

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Day 24: Lay aside your sin

Hebrews 12:1 “Let us lay aside every…sin that so easily
entangles us…”

   I hate spider webs. You walk into them and, well, you know, they get
all over you. Spider webs play a very strategic role for the spider.
They entangle and slow the victim so that the spider can quickly
rush in and deliver the fatal bite. That is how they survive.
As believers, we need to be concerned about spiritual spider
webs. The writer of Hebrews says we need to “lay aside the
weights and sins that so easily entangle us” (see Hebrews 12:1).
The term “entangles us” paints the picture of a web-like trap that
inhibits movement. For the Christian, spiritual spider webs come
as different kinds of temptations in everyday life. The ability for
churches and individual Christians to overcome temptation and
avoid being entangled in Satan’s web comes only through daily
dependence on Christ through prayer and God’s Word.

   Spiritual warfare is real! The devil’s desire is to tempt us, entangle
us and ultimately deliver the fatal bite, destroying our witness to a
lost world. When that happens – revival is hindered. It’s happening
way too much in the church today!

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to show you the sins that so easily entangle you
and then lay them aside today
   • Pray for a vibrant walk with Christ and wisdom to recognize and
resist Satan’s temptations

praync.org

Day 23: Intimacy With God

Luke 2:36-37 “Anna…did not depart from the temple, but
served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”

   God with us, Immanuel – what an event in history! Jesus, the Word
of God, came to ransom fallen humanity from death and the
penalty of sin. Yet, the people of God somehow missed it. With
the exception of a few, many in Israel were not aware that Jesus
was the Christ. Anna was different. She knew and was waiting for
the Christ in prayer. When she encountered the Christ child she
immediately gave thanks and began sharing Him with others.

   Ever wonder why Anna was different? Like many others in her
day she had been exposed to the prophetic words regarding
the coming Christ. Unlike the others, Anna was expectant while
watching, waiting and praying. Intimacy with God was the
difference. Suddenly, God revealed Himself and came to earth.
Anna got it – most did not. How sad is that? Before we are too
quick to judge those who did not get it then, maybe we should
ask ourselves if we would recognize the activity of Christ today.
When revival comes, will we be like Anna?

Prayer Points
   • Pray for the Lord to forgive any times you have not recognized
His work around you
   • Ask the Father for greater intimacy in your relationship with Him

Day 22: Passionate Prayer

James 5:16 “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much.”

   Jerome of Savanorola’s experience in Florence, Italy, was significant.
Revival had come and the entire city was experiencing the
benefits of a righteous environment “where the will of God was
done on earth as it was in heaven.” The revival environment
lasted almost two years, but unfortunately was halted in 1495
as the Pope forbade Savanorola to preach. This eventually led to
his excommunication and martyrdom. He was only 47, yet his
influence lasted for centuries.

   Savanorola’s legacy lasted because of his prayerful investment
into the next generation of leaders. He was often found weeping
on the steps of the cathedral over the need for revival and
awakening in Florence. Some 15,000 teenagers who formed a “new
Christian militia” were led to Christ through Jerome’s passionate
prayers, proclamation and leadership. Many of these new believers
were converted out of youth gangs and were committed to
sharing their story with others who had similar lifestyles. That kind
of passionate prayer leads to changed communities, cities and
nations – one heart at a time. Shall we pray?

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Lord to give you tears in prayer over your sin and the
condition of the church in your community
   • Pray for the Lord to raise up fervent, righteous prayer leaders in
North America

praync.org

Day 21: Choose Life!

John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life… ”

   As Reuben A. Torrey knelt by his bed the night he contemplated
taking his life, he was greatly confused about life, faith and God’s
purposes. He had become enamored with enlightenment thinking
and had drifted into skepticism. That same night miles away
Torrey’s mother also knelt beside her bed. She was not distraught
and confused. She was praying for her son, that God would take his
life and use it for His Kingdom purposes. And that’s exactly what
happened. Instead of taking his life that night, Torrey surrendered
his life to Jesus Christ. Thanks to a praying mother, Torrey choose
life instead of darkness.

   The result of a revived and awakened church is always the
conversion of lost people. Has God laid someone on your heart
who needs to choose life over darkness? Why not pray for them as
Torrey’s mother prayed, that faith would come and new life would
be found in Christ? That is what awakening is all about.

Prayer Points
   • Pray specifically for one lost person to be delivered from Satan’s
kingdom
   • Ask the Lord to forgive your sin of prayerlessness toward lostness

praync.org

Day 20: Killing the giant

1 Samuel 17:47 “The battle is the Lord’s…” 

   As David approached his gigantic opponent it appeared to be
a mismatch. Goliath was truly an intimidating foe and most
contestants were defeated before the conflict even began due to
the giant’s arrogant boasts and his daunting physique – but not
David. He had a confidence that defied the circumstances. David
won this battle because he recognized that it wasn’t his. David
knew the battle was the Lord’s.
   The challenge of revival and awakening in America is huge.
The continuous increase in attitudes of apathy and complacency
coupled with a lack of godliness and holiness among professing
believers can be discouraging to all who desire to see the church
revitalized and renewed. But, as Christians labor to see the tide
turn, they must acknowledge that our enemy, Satan, will not be
conquered by puny human mechanisms. It’s only as we surrender
in prayer to the Great Giant Killer, Jesus Christ, that we will see Him
winning the battle for revival and awakening (see Psalm 108:12-13).
Awakening can come and the Great Commission accomplished
only because the Great Commissioner has promised to be with us
“always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Prayer Points
   • Pray for believers to not grow weary in asking for revival and
awakening
   • Ask the Lord for a great dependence on His ability to revitalize the
church in America

praync.org

Day 19: Misplaced priorities

Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God…”

In 1988, retired NASA engineer Edgar Whisenant wrote a
book giving 88 reasons why he believed Jesus would return
in September 1988. Millions were sold or distributed and the
impact on evangelical Christianity was great. Believers began
selling property, booking flights to the holy land and heading
to hilltops to await the rapture. Some even put pets to sleep. All
of this despite the clear teachings on Christ’s return in Matthew
25:13.
   Sadly, the response demonstrated that the church in America
had misplaced its priorities while forgetting its mission to reach a
lost world with the gospel. The focus of their activity was on self,
rather than on the need to tell others of Jesus and His love. In
Matthew 6:33 the Lord speaks a sobering reminder to believers
to not lay up treasures on earth but to seek first His Kingdom.
May we live our lives daily with Christ’s Kingdom at the forefront
– thus making His mission primary. How are you doing?

Prayer Points
   • Pray that your priorities in life will reflect Christ’s priorities
   • Ask the Father to allow you to be a vessel through which His
Kingdom can come in people’s lives

praync.org

Day 18: Jesus is all we need

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

   The philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “Look for truth,
and you will run straight into Jesus Christ.” The majority of our
problems as Christians come because we allow ourselves to be
distracted by petty, insignificant matters and fail to focus on Jesus.
Jesus should be the person after whom we model our lives – not
some rock or movie star, not some athlete and not even our pastor.
We must be transformed in His image, saturated with His words
and promises, and reflect His goodness, mercy, love, forgiveness,
kindness, compassion and patience.
   Until we realize that Jesus is all we need, we will continue to
look for truth in all the wrong places. This happens too often in
believer’s lives and in the church in America. Only when we submit
ourselves to His will and His standards will we become less and
less, and will He become greater and greater. That has to happen if
revival and awakening is to ever come to America.

Prayer Points
   • As you pray, concentrate on the character of Jesus Christ, and ask
the Father to make you more like Him
   • Pray that the church in America will become like Jesus

praync.org

Day 17: Are You Praying Big

2 Kings 19:16 “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your 
eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, 
which he has sent to reproach the living God.”

   Hezekiah knew how to pray big! The king of Assyria had destroyed
46 cities and now he was after Jerusalem. So Hezekiah got
right to the heart of the matter and cried out in a very bold and
almost “brazen” way to God. In essence, he prayed for God to
listen and look and to see that His honor was at stake. God heard
his desperate cry, answered his prayer, saved the people and
demonstrated His power for all to see. Do you know God well
enough to pray that boldly?
   In 1906 John “Praying” Hyde, a Presbyterian missionary to the
Punjab region in India, “prayed big.” He asked the Lord, with great
sobs and flowing tears, to give him one soul a day for the first year,
two for the second and then four souls a day for the third year.
Following that three-year period he had personally won about
2,600 Asian Indians to Christ. Now that is praying big! Are you
praying big for your church, your nation and your world? If not,
when will you start?

Prayer Points
   • Pray for the Lord to break your heart because of the moral and
spiritual decline in the American church
   • Ask Jesus to give you a heart to pray big toward revival and
awakening in North America

praync.org

Day 16: God's Gracious Intervention

Matthew 14:30b “Lord, save me!”

   On a stormy night Lee Roy Culley climbed out from under the pool
table a changed man. The storm, lightening and terrible wind had
finally subsided. The turmoil in his heart had also been arrested by
God. Lee Roy had cried out to God in fear and conviction – “Lord,
save me!” and Jesus Christ came into this pool shooting, drunken
welder’s life. Lee Roy was a new creature in Jesus. He and his
precious wife Nancy served Christ faithfully for 30 plus years as lay
leaders and Sunday School teachers. Countless lives are now a part
of the Kingdom because of his witness and life of service to the
Christ who saved him that night under a pool table as he cried out
a simple, yet profound prayer –“Lord save me!”
   Peter’s prayer, “Lord, save me,” may be the shortest prayer in
the Bible. Even so, it also remains an eternal, far-reaching prayer. It
reminds us that any transformed life is always the product of God’s
gracious intervention. God’s gracious intervention is what we are
praying toward as we ask the Lord to send a spiritual awakening to
our land.

Prayer Points
   • Pray for one lost person to experience God’s gracious intervention
through faith in Christ
   • Ask the Lord to have mercy on His church because of our apathy
toward lostness in America

praync.org

Day 15: Sacrifice

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only 
begotten Son…”

   The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was one of the first
African-American units to fight against the Confederacy during
the American Civil War. The regiment was led by a white colonel
named Robert Gould Shaw. On July 18, 1863, Colonel Shaw led
his men in an almost impossible assault against Ft. Wagner, a
highly fortified point that guarded the southern entrance to the
harbor in Charleston, S.C. Colonel Shaw was killed as he led his
men in the assault, and the Union soldiers were eventually turned
away after hours of hand to hand fighting. However, they had
no regrets. These volunteers considered it a gift to fight for their
country and their freedom. For more than half of the regiment,
the cost would be great (more than half were killed), yet they still
treasured the honor to fight!
   Today, the church is in a battle for the soul of America. Moral
and spiritual decay grows steadily year after year. God has
demonstrated His love toward us in that He sent Jesus as a
sacrifice for our sins to save us from certain judgment and eternal
damnation. Do we care that millions are perishing and will perish
if awakening does not come to America? It’s an honor to pray and
sacrifice for the lost to know Christ – don’t you think?

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to give you His love for the lost
   • Pray that the Father will awaken your church to lostness in your
community

praync.org

Day 14: Making Jesus Known

John 17:26 “And I have declared to them Your name, and will 
declare it…”

   Charles Graddison Finney was gloriously converted to Christ
October 10, 1821. Following his conversion, Finney was used by
God to fan the flames of revival throughout the first half of the
1800s during the Second Great Awakening. Finney first began
preaching in western New York and ultimately had great success
preaching in large urban areas such as New York, Philadelphia
and Boston. His most noted revival meeting was held in 1830–31
in Rochester, New York. Riding upon the wave of the Second
Great Awakening, the campaign lasted six months with one
tenth of the city’s population being converted.
   Charles Finney was faithful to make Jesus known to as many
people as possible. His methodologies and commitment to
prayer have had a lasting influence upon the church. In John
17:26, Jesus prays toward making the Father known. He, too, was
always about that task. Are we about the task of making Jesus
known to the nations?

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to give you a greater desire and burden to see
people saved
   • Pray for the Lord to send witnesses into His harvest fields in
America

praync.org

Day 13: Surrender Through Prayer

John 17:4 “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the 
work…”

   Most of us do not like to die to our desires, agendas and personal
preferences. It is often a very difficult thing because selfless living
is not something that comes naturally to us as humans. It’s like the
little girl who kept reaching for the ornament on the tree. Her dad
kept warning her and finally asked her why she kept reaching for
the ornament. She responded, “Daddy, it is so hard!”
   In John 17:4 Jesus prays toward His finished work on the earth
even though He has yet to experience the cross, grave, resurrection
or ascension. How can He pray in past tense in John 17:4 concerning
the things He has yet to experience? The answer is because He
has already been to the garden and surrendered to these things in
prayer. This is clearly seen in John 12:28 where Jesus prays, “Father
glorify your name.” He is thus surrendering to the Father’s Kingdom
desires, purposes and plans. He is saying to the Father – “Let’s do
it, I will die to myself for Your Kingdom to come and Your will to
be done in and through my life.” The result of that kind of praying
was redemption for a lost humanity. What could happen if we
surrendered or died to self in prayer?

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to show you things you need to die to so that His
Kingdom may come through your life
   • Pray for the Father to be glorified as you surrender to His will in
your daily life

praync.org

Bread or Cake?

The Bible is meant to be bread for our daily use, not just cake for special occasions.
Unknown

A Prayer for Tday

From one of my devotions:

Dear God, You know my heart and my heartaches. You have showered me with blessings and carried me through the valley of pain and sadness. Thank you for the godly influence of special people in my life. Thank you for those who pray for and encourage me. I even thank you for the hard times and trials I have been through, for they have strengthened my faith. I praise you for giving me a spirit of hope, love, and acceptance, rather than allowing me to become angry, bitter, and downcast. I praise you God, from whom all blessings flow. May I, in return, be a blessing to you. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Day 12: College Students on Fire

Isaiah 64:1 “OH, that You would rend the heavens! That You would 
come down!...”

   In 1787, Hampton-Sydney College experienced an extraordinary move
of God in revival and awakening as four young men gathered to pray,
study God’s Word and worship. They first met in a nearby forest, then
a dorm room. Because of their piety and passion they were ridiculed
by fellow students and labeled as fanatics. The president, John Brown
Smith, was broken that the young men were being persecuted
because of their piety and passion for revival and awakening. He
reprimanded the persecutors and invited William Hill, Cary Allen,
James Blythe and Clement Read to join him in his parlor for prayer the
following Saturday.
   Revival soon broke out on campus with many students being
converted to Christ. The awakening, due to testimonies being
shared by students in various church settings, eventually spread to
surrounding counties. The campus itself was visited by unusual moves
of God periodically over the next few decades. These four young men
were greatly used during the Second Great Awakening to impact many
lives for Christ because of their faith and passion to see God transform
the lives of fellow classmates.

Prayer Points
   • Pray for God to use your passion for prayer, His Word and worship to
ignite a revival
   • Pray for college students to have a passion for awakening

praync.org

Day 11: Ruffled Feathers

Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing…”  

   One day a bird landed near and I noticed that its feathers were
really ruffled. The expression, which my grandpa used frequently,
immediately came to life: “Don’t get your feathers all ruffled.” That
is, do not worry or be anxious about the matter at hand. Jeremiah
Lanphier probably needed to hear those words on September 23,
1857, as he knelt alone in prayer. He was the only participant in a
newly established prayer meeting that he had started. Lanphier
had handed out hundreds of handbills entitled “How often shall we
pray?” to try and recruit people to be a part of the prayer meetings.
He was addressing a major problem in the church of his day –
prayerlessness.
   History records that God eventually did bring people to pray
that day – six the first week, 20 the second week and in six months,
50,000 people were praying in New York City. Because of Lanphier’s
courage and determination to call God’s people to prayer, the
Layman’s Prayer Revival of 1857-1858 was used mightily of God
to revive the church, convert millions and foster world missions
during the middle of the 19th century. So, whenever something
seems hopeless or you are discouraged, don’t let your feathers get
ruffled. Pray!

Prayer Points
   • Pray for the Lord to raise up a faithful group of passionate prayer
mobilizers in churches across North America
   • Pray toward personal faithfulness in prayer

praync.org

Day 10: Finish Strong

John 17:5 “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with 
Yourself…”

   One of the first major battles fought in the American Civil War was
the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manasses). The Union army, though
inexperienced, was confident that their southern foes would soon
be retreating to Richmond and the war would be over in a few
weeks. This was not the case, as the Union armies were eventually
routed and in full (chaotic) retreat back toward Washington, D.C.
Because of the chaos, inexperience and disorganization associated
with this first battle, the Confederate troops missed an opportunity
to pursue the retreating Union army and lay siege to Washington,
D.C. Could the war have ended soon after it started with a
Confederate victory?
   In John 17:5 Jesus is praying toward the completion of His
mission. His desire – to finish strong and obey His Father as He
ascends to heaven where He ever lives to make intercession for
the saints (see Hebrews 7:25). Because of this answered prayer,
Jesus’ mission was completed and salvation was secured for lost
humanity. This challenges the church and believers alike to do the
same – finish strong. How are you doing?

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to show you unfinished steps of obedience
   • Pray that Christ will forgive and cleanse your heart and help you
finish strong your mission

praync.org

Day Nine: Faithful to the Word

John 17:6 “And they have kept Your word… ” 

   Margaree Valley Baptist Church needed a pastor. Rev. Foster was tired
and according to his wife, in no shape to preach or pastor. However,
Foster sensed the call to invite himself to preach for the deacons
at Margaree Valley Baptist Church, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The
uninvited preacher took the next train to the valley and arrived at
noon on a Monday. The deacons agreed to have the church open
that evening for services. After arriving, Foster ascended to a nearby
hillside for prayer. As he wept and prayed over the valley God
granted him a confident peace concerning His desire to do a work in
the valley.
   Later that evening he stepped into the pulpit with great
confidence the Lord had given him. After the service, people left
knowing that God’s man, and His Word, had arrived. What ensued
has been called the “Foster Revival.” The revival went on for weeks,
resulting in many new converts. The Margaree Valley Baptist Church
called Foster as pastor and one writer called that season of ministry
the “most prosperous period” in the life of the church. Despite great
emotional challenges Foster kept the Lord’s Word to go to the valley
and preach faithfully. God’s Kingdom moved forward in a great way.
Are we keeping Christ’s Word?

Prayer Points
   • Ask the Father to give you a radical faith to obey and keep His Word
no matter the cost
   • Pray for a sincere burden and passion to see God’s work move
forward through your life and ministry

praync.org

Day Eight: Do You Really Care?

Matthew 6:9-10 “Pray…Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on 
earth as it is in heaven.”

   Today, the numbers of churches that are declining and/or maintaining
the status quo regarding church growth are ever increasing. Yet, many
congregations and leaders continue with business as usual. Such was
not the case with Jonathan Edwards.
   Jonathan Edwards is well known for his important role in North
America’s First Great Awakening. Edwards, a Congregationalist pastor/
theologian, is the central figure associated with this awakening that
swept the New England colonies in the early 1700s. As a pastor in
1734, Edwards was concerned with the spiritual decadence present in
his congregation and in the overall community. What was his remedy?
God’s Word and prayer. As Edwards preached and prayed, God visited
the congregation with an awakening. People from nearby towns
were soon worshipping with his congregation. As they experienced
renewal, they carried the revival fires back to their churches. Some
27 towns experienced revival as the result of what God did in
Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards is an example of someone
who desired to see God’s Kingdom come in people’s lives. Do you?

Prayer Points
   • Pray for spiritual leaders to recognize the great need for spiritual
awakening
   • Pray diligently for believers everywhere to awaken to God’s call to
return to Him and pray toward His Kingdom coming and His will
being done on earth as it is in heaven

praync.org

Day Seven: Drawing Near

Revelation 2:4-5 “Nevertheless I have this against you, that 
you have left your first love. Remember therefore from 
where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.”

   James Burns, in his classic work, The Laws of Revival, points to a
declining spiritual fervor and authenticity that always precedes
a spiritual awakening. He comments, “We find preceding each
revival, a spiritual desert.” This spiritual desert is the result of
individual Christians who have departed or defected from
their walk with Christ in such a way that they find themselves
in a wasteland of moral and spiritual decline. Because they
have slowly become more like the world and less in love with
Christ, believers discover that there is little or no spiritual power
available to accomplish God’s work. The result, if this condition is
left unresolved? Spiritual famine in God’s house and in their land.
   Are you praying but have not dealt with your sin? Today, write
down a game plan for repenting of at least one sin you’ve had
for a while. As you repent one step toward God, you will see God
take one step toward you. You will see fresh power appear in
your prayers and service to God.

Prayer Points
   • Pray for a cleansed heart and life as you give your sin to the Lord
   • Pray for an unwavering devotion to return and walk in
obedience to Jesus, your first love

praync.org

Day Six: Character matters

John 17:11 “Keep them in Your name…” 

   The year was 1949. As seven young men were praying in a barn
outside the city one man stood and read from Psalm 24:3-5, “Who
can ascend the hill of the Lord? ...” When he finished reading the
verses he asked the six men who were praying with him if it was not
senseless to be praying for revival if they themselves were not right
with God! Almost immediately God’s presence overcame the group
and they found themselves laying face down weeping, confessing
their sins and seeking forgiveness. God answered their prayers and
the Hebrides Islands, a group of small islands just off the coast of
Scotland, soon came alive with revival.
   Jesus’ prayer in John 17:11 is a plea to the Father on behalf of the
character of His followers. He asked that they would be protected,
even guarded, in His name and character. He was praying for
intimacy and nearness – that their walk would match their talk – that
their witness would be clean and pure as His was. He was praying for
their lives to be a witness to His name and character. What can be
learned from this prayer? One simple truth – we can’t separate our
prayers from who we are in Christ. Our character in Christ will have a
direct impact on the prayers we pray. How are you doing?

Prayer Points
   • Pray that the Lord would reveal inconsistencies with your walk and
your talk
   • Ask the Lord to renew and empower your prayer life through
cleansing, repentance and holiness

praync.org

Day Five: He is Able

2 Timothy 1:12 “I know whom I have believed…that He is able…”

   Life for Patrick of Ireland looked pretty dim. Patrick was born in
Scotland in A.D. 389 to godly Christian parents who taught him
Scripture, prayers and hymns. At age 16 Patrick was kidnapped,
taken captive by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. After six long
years, Patrick escaped and returned home. After being home for
a brief period God began to give him a deep longing to return to
Ireland and share Christ. This he eventually did and Patrick was
used by God to reach Ireland with the gospel.
   After returning to Ireland as a missionary, and following
numerous encounters with druid priests where the Lord proved
Himself victorious, Patrick began to see the fruit of His labors. He
organized churches, implemented training programs for Christians,
instituted schools for students and clergy, and wrote hymns. God
truly used Patrick for His glory to see the Irish people awakened
to the truth of Christ. Thus, because of the awakening and work
of God’s Spirit, Patrick established a Christian witness in Ireland,
planted 365 churches and won 120,000 converts to Christ. God
truly is able! Do you believe?

Prayer Points
   • Pray for Christ to set your heart through faith on His ability to
renew and revive His church
   • Pray for the church in America to unite in prayer toward awakening

praync.org

Day Four: Are You Asking?

James 4:2-3 “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask 
and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend 
it on your pleasures.”

   Have you ever wondered why some prayers go unanswered?
Sometimes the timing of our prayers is not right. At other times our
prayers may be focused on wrong issues, or our motives or intent
in asking may be off track. And, as hard as it is to admit, there may
be those times when we do not see answered prayer because we
simply have not prayed about a matter. Andrew Murray, South
African pastor and theologian, once said, “God must give, we must
ask.” His statement reminds us that as followers of Christ our role
in prayer is not to tell God how to answer our prayers, or when to
answer our prayers. We are to be faithful in our task of asking.
   In today’s text, James challenges believers to evaluate their
faithfulness in asking and to be sure that they pray with proper
motives. If the church is going to be faithful to take the gospel to
the world, we must be faithful first to ask, and then to trust God
to do the answering! Paul reminds us in Ephesians 3:20 that when
God answers prayer it is usually, “exceedingly abundantly above
all that we ask or think.” Will we ask? And will we ask with the right
motives?

Prayer Points
   • Pray for the Holy Spirit to search you for wrong motives in prayer
   • Pray for faithfulness and discipline in your personal prayer life

praync.org

Day Three: Are You Depending on God

John 15:5 “He who abides in Me, and I in Him, he bears much 
fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.” 

   Charles Spurgeon knew that he was nothing apart from Christ. For
nearly 30 years God filled the Metropolitan Tabernacle with souls
hungry for the bread of life as Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,”
preached the truth of God. Countless souls were ushered into
God’s Kingdom through his life and pulpit ministry. Spurgeon was
always quick to say that prayer was the secret to the success of his
ministry. He not only believed that corporate prayer unleashed
God’s power, but Spurgeon knew he personally had to be a man
of prayer in order to be God’s instrument. He often commented,
“Nothing can so gloriously fit you to preach as descending fresh
from the mount of communion with God to speak with men.”
   Today, the spiritual life of the church is so predictable and it
seldom shows the results of God’s work in our lives. Without the
power of Christ in our lives we can do nothing. It is not that we
can do some things, but we can do nothing. Do we dare pray that
God would surprise us by His presence and power in our lives?
Can we really accept that our efforts are futile without Him?

Prayer Points
   • Pray for the Lord to search your heart for spiritual pride
   • Pray toward an unwavering desire to abide in and depend on the
      Lord for everything

praync.org

Day Two: Do It Again Lord!

Psalm 85:6 “Will you not revive us again…”

   In 1904, the country of Wales was experiencing an incredibly
low spiritual ebb. Morals were collapsing, crime rates were
rising, and churches were weak and declining. But God was at
work calling His remnant back to the three things that always
precede Great Awakenings: fervent prayer, deep repentance
and evangelistic passion. As prayer and repentance increased,
God poured out His Spirit like a sweeping flood. Evan Roberts,
a former coal miner and a major instrument whom God used
in the revival, challenged people as he preached to put away
unconfessed sin and doubtful habits, obey the Holy Spirit
immediately and confess Christ publically.
   In six months, 100,000 people were converted and Wales
experienced moral and spiritual revitalization. Today, America
is in desperate need of revival and awakening. Could it happen
again? Will God mercifully work in a similar way in America?
Cry out to God and ask Him to start a revival in you, your family
and your church.

Prayer Points
   • Confess any known sin and set aside any actions that do not
represent Christ
   • Ask the Lord to use you as an instrument for revival

praync.org

Day One: What Time is it?

Romans 13:11 “And do this, knowing the time…”

   A few weeks ago the phone awakened us from a deep sleep
at 3:45 a.m. Those calls can literally change your life. This one
did. It was my daughter – her water had broken and she was
headed to the hospital to deliver our first grandchild. We were
startled by her words because she was four weeks early. We
headed to the hospital as soon as we could.
   As I reflect on that morning I cannot help but think about
Paul’s words to the Roman believers. Paul cautioned the
believers to understand that God’s “kairos” or opportune
time to return to Him was upon them. This was a call to
awaken from an apathetic and immoral life. It was actually
a call to repentance and a holy life in Christ. The reason –
God’s “kairos” time is nearer than when we first believed. The
completion of His salvation in our lives is upon us; it is closer
than we thought. Daybreak is approaching fast. What time is
it in your life? Do you need to awaken and return to Christ?

Prayer Points
    • Pray that the Holy Spirit would give you a greater sensitivity
to God’s “kairos” time
    • Pray that your heart would be renewed in Christ as you
awaken, repent and return to Christ before it is too late

praync.org

AWAKEN

During the month of October, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina calls us to "Pray for 30 Days" because 79% of North Carolinians have no church affiliation.  In preparation for our Annual Convention in November, we are seeking God to see spiritual awakening across North Carolina.  Please join us in this work of God.

Honor Mom

This is the weekly Devotional Column that was missed in the Laurinburg Exchange this week.

Exodus 20:12 - “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”

This verse is part of the 10 Commandments.  In today’s society we have to keep reminding that these were not the 10 Suggestions.  In fact, this is repeated in eight places in the Bible.  Maybe God is trying to tell us something.  You think?  We constantly see people (and I mean young and old) who are very disrespectful to their mothers.  They do not realize how important this lady is to their life.  None of us would be here if it was not for a mother.  God encourages us to hold these special ladies up in high regard.  In fact, He makes it worth our while.  Paul tells us, “‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise.” (Ephesians 6:2)  In fact, it is the only one of the 10 Commandments that carries a promise with it.  God thinks very highly of Mothers – so we should too.  This weekend, be sure to honor your Mother in a very special way that will mean so much to her.  This will bring a New Hope for Today.

Love has good manners

I have always enjoyed the J.B. Phillips translation of 1 Corinthians 13.  Verses 4 - 8a read - "This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.
 ^5-6 Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.
 ^7-8a Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen."

We are only a week away from the day we celebrate love - Valentine's Day.  When you consider love - what is your view?  Is it Biblical or Secular?  Better yet, how do you practice love?  Think about it.

Staying the course

Greetings:

"It is often said of American football that the hardest place to score from is the one yard line. That is because the defenses are greatest where there is the most resistance. Sometimes completing a job is like this." Os Hillman

Need a Hug?

When struggling, why not settle into the Father's arms.

"Snuggle in God's arms. When you are hurting, when you feel lonely, left out... let Him cradle you, comfort you, reassure you of His all-sufficient power and love."

Kay Arthur

Test of the system

I am testing this blog setting.