Prayer is not a passive, calm, quiet practice - Day of Prayer and Fasting

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]inally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you." Paul to the church at Thessaloniki [dropcap]P[/dropcap]rayer is like waking up from a nightmare to reality. We laugh at what we took so seriously inside the dream. We realize that all is truly well. Of course, prayer can have the opposite effect; it can puncture illusions and show us we are in more spiritual danger than we thought." - Tim Keller

On Wednesday, November 4, 2015 David Arthur, CEO of Precept Ministries International, has called the Precept family around the world to a day of prayer and fasting. In the morning, we'll be worshiping together in both song and the word. I will be teaching along with Kay Arthur and David Arthur.

In preparation for our time together, I've been reading through the Word of God, taking note of the different situations when the Spirit of God moved people to cry out to God in the Old Testament. I've been zeroing in what Jesus taught on prayer, but also in his dependency upon the Spirit of God in prayer while on earth. I've also been swimming in those Pauline prayers.

In addition to the Word of God, I've also been slowly walking through Tim Keller's book on Prayer. A group of men from our church are meeting together every Thursday morning at a local coffee house in town, going through the book. Unfortunately, I've been out of town so much that I've missed the first four meetings. However, the book is rich. I'm not quite halfway through it, but here are some gems below:

A triune God would call us to converse with him . . . because he wants to share the joy he has. Prayer is our way of entering into the happiness of God himself.”

“When life is going smoothly, and our truest heart treasures seem safe, it does not occur to us to pray.”

“To pray in Jesus’ name is, essentially, to reground our relationship with God in the saving work of Jesus over and over again. It also means to recognize your status as a child of God, regardless of your inner state.”

“Prayer is not a passive, calm, quiet practice.”

“Prayer gives us relief from the melancholy burden of self-absorption.”

“Prayer—though it is often draining, even an agony—is in the long term the greatest source of power that is possible.”

I know everyone is busy. Even typing that reminds me of the title of a book, "To Busy Not to Pray." You may not be able to set aside Wednesday. You may not be able to set aside an entire day to pray and fast. Our Precept Ministries International Team around the world has made it available for you to join with us via webcast. If you're in Australia or Germany, you can load the feed whenever you're able. In addition to the time of worship through song and Word, we will also be praying through specific needs of our Precept teams around the globe. People are always amazed when we relay that the United States only consists of 11% of Precept around the world. The lion's share of what the Lord is doing through the work of Precept isn't in the United States! During the webcast, we'll pray together that the Word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified!

[Tweet "Join Me, @jwlucarelli, @kayarthur, & @davidlarthur in praying with @PreceptMinistry around the world! http://precept.org/dayofprayer"]