Pastor Craig

The Power of Prayer

 by Pastor Craig Sicilia

Praying for the Kingdom
Prayer must never supplant work. If we sincerely ask God for his will to be done, for his nature to be revealed in our work, for his rule to bring humankind to unity, justice, and love, then our life will be one of work. Faith without works is dead. Prayer without work is hypocrisy.

God's Palette
How do you pray, and does it matter? Do you worry over how other people pray (or don't pray)? This article by author Johann Christoph Arnold debunks the theory that Christians are the sole proprietors of prayer. And he shows how people the world over treasure their conversations with God.

Prayer is a Weapon
Prayer is the best weapon in spiritual warfare. But too often we pray only for what we desire and forget to ask God what he wants of us at a particular moment.

Prayer in Daily Life
Each person's prayer life will be different, reflecting the diversity of individual character, belief, emotional state, and daily life. The form is never important.

Living on a Prayer
There are times when nothing will give us peace but prayer. We may strive for simplicity and silence – for detachment from sources of unpeace around us or inside us – but we may still be left with a void that only God can fill. And if he does not enter our hearts uninvited, we must ask him to come in.

We are all human here

We all have sin in our life

Some of us feel that our sin is the biggest sin in the world

We score them like a background inquirer

We add value to our sin, but not a good value

We impose a negative value to our sin, a value that isolates us from God.

We distance ourselves from God because we are ashamed of our sins.

The truth of the matter God dose not rate our sins

Our sins are equal in Gods eyes, sin is sin and God treats them equally

But we humans judge these sins and put value into them

We turn our faults into stumbling blocks keeping us from the Gods grace

God never turns on us only we turn and walk away, stop communicating

We let our sins make us numb to the Holy Spirit and Gods direction

He’s always gently whispering the way and pointing us into the light

But we become blind to Gods grace because we are ashamed to look into the light

We don’t want to let God look us square in the face

But know this, it is all us. if we would look God in the face,

If we would pray to Him for direction

If we would let God touch us through the Holy Spirit

We could let our sin go to God. We would start to better ourselves

We would begin to leave our old selves behind

We would not repeat the same old sins over and over again

Are we truly sorry for our sins if we repeat them at will

Dose God forgive us when we do that, or dose that anger him, I don’t know

But when our children do that time and time again after we tell them to stop

What happens

Do we forgive them when we know they are truly not sorry..

We only forgive them when they have stopped

We welcome and embrace improvement in our childerns behavior

So dose God, He expects it – its our duty in repentance

If we are not sorry how can God forgive us

And if we were truly sorry we would stop our sins it becomes a vicious circle

Here is the funny part,

We start putting value on our sins so we can rate one another

Where as God dose not.  And what might be a un-forgiven sin for us

Is a forgiven sin for our neighbor who we  have judged and based the value of our sins and have justified doing them

We are responsible for our own sins brothers and sisters

And God holds us accountable for our un-forgiven sins

And when we don’t let it go our burdin gets heavy,

It gets so heavy we do not think we can bare its weight any longer

There was this young man who was at the end of his rope.

Seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer.

"Lord, I can't go on," he said.

"I have too heavy a cross to bear."

The Lord replied,

"My son, if you can't bear it's weight,

just place your cross inside this room.

Then open another door and pick any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief.

"Thank you, Lord,"

he sighed, and did as he was told.

As he looked around the room he saw many different crosses;

some so large the tops were not visible.

Then he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall.

"I'd like that one, Lord,"

he whispered. And the Lord replied,

"My son, that's the cross you brought in."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When life problems seem overwhelming,
it helps to look around and see what others are having to endure.
Then you may see for yourself that you are more fortunate than you realized.

Let us look at how Christ was,

He never complained

He treated every single person like they were the most important person in the world

The majority of the miracles done by Jesus and His apostles that are recorded for us in the New Testament involve them healing someone.

The miracles were only important to that one person whos life it effected

These miracles are ours for the taking

But how do we obtain these miracles

Especially the greatest miracle of all the miracle of our sins being forgave

The miracle of the will power to stop repeating our sins

Today I bring you a message from God contained in seven short words.  Six are single syllable words, and the remaining word has but two syllables and is one of the most familiar and most easily understood words in the English language.

Yet there is so much in these seven, short, simple words that they have transformed many a life and brought many an inefficient worker into a place of great power.

I pray that these words may sink into your heart today as they have of other forgiven Christians.

There’s the key, the two types of Christians

The un-forgiven Christian

And the forgiven Christian 

To be a Christian you have to believe in Christ

To be a forgiven Christian you are promised eternal life

But, You must be sorry, you must tell God you are sorry and mean it…

Do you want to be a saved Christian today

Do you want to put all of your problems into Gods hands, and stop the worry

That Sucks the quality of ours lives away

Do you want Gods will in your life today

  Do you wonder Why we have so little victory over sin

Then take note of these seven words

I take it from 19^th century King James  because it states it clear and simple in old English

It is our answer to why our lives are not the way that satisfies our hearts

It is why the blessings that are ours we do not receive

I take you to James 4:2

“Ye have not.  Because ye ask not”

why do we have so little victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, 

why is the average Christian living on such a low plane  of Christian living

Why dose the Lord Jesus Christ get so little honor from the state of the

Church today

Again God replies: “neglect of Prayer. You have not, because you ask not.

Lets go to the modern day translation of James 4:2

You want something but don’t get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God.

God has the stuff you cannot get anywhere else

God has the solutions to all of your problems, probably not your solution to the problem

God has the cure for what makes you fell sad, depressed and lonely

God has the answer to what your heart has searching for in all the wrong places.

God has the secret to true repentance.

The key to the kingdom of heaven yours and mine for the asking.

Dream Catchers

     On the wall above my bed there are two very beautiful dream catchers that my wife bought. They are red and brown willow hoops decorated with feathers, horse hair, and beads. They have a wonderfully delicate, spider web design in the middle of them. At the very center of the web in the very middle of the dream catcher there is a round hole. The Native American Lakota Tribe believes that the dream catchers represent the web of life. Their people believe that hanging them above your bed or in your house will sift your dreams and visions. The good in your dreams will be caught in the web and carried with you, but the evil in your dreams will pass through the hole and no longer be a part of your life.

     I enjoy looking at these lovely dream catchers, because they always remind me of what I want to do in my own life. I want to catch only the good within myself. I want to capture only the highest, wisest, best, most loving, most giving, and most joyous part of myself and let the rest fade away. I want to become the person that God meant for me to be and live the way that God meant for me to live. I want to become a wonderful part of the web of life and share only love and joy with others and the world.

     The glorious truth is that you, I, and everyone else in this world can do this too. God loves us all so much and God gives us the strength and ability to become our highest selves. We can choose to be the person God meant for us to be. We can fill ourselves with love, joy, and light and then share them with the world. We can capture the angel within and allow the worst parts of ourselves to fade away. We can live as a true Child of God sending smiles, giving love, offering joy, scattering sunshine, and creating laughter wherever we go. We can catch the dream of the person we always wanted to be and make it a reality.

It is so simply brother and sisters, all we have to do is pray to God and ask that his will be done in all maters.

When we do that guess what, the best most wonderful most positive of all outcomes will happen. 

Gods perfect plan will manafest right before your eyes.

Miracles, thing you never thought possible will begin to happen

Outcomes that you can not buy  to make happen only God

Peoples hearts will change, that could not be softened by you

Problems disappear that you could not solve

You all of a sudden know things you have not learned

Accomplish feats that you do not know how you did

All of a sudden miracles will be the normal thing in your life

Rather than you life being normal being the miracle

Our lives are a intracant web of cause and effect

Every thing we do causes something to happen and every thing we do effects somebody

God has a plan and when we do not use it  its makes things mess up kind of like an engine out of tune

The more things we mess with the worse the problem becomes till we ruin the engine and it becomes of no use.

The same thing goes with everything we do right has an effect

When we live our lives in a Christian way it cause good things to happen to others it also causes bad things to become good

You see the power of good will over power the power of bad

Your Actions May Change A Life

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!"  He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to USC. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for chemistry on a small debate scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began: "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. How He was planning and contemplating  to kill himself. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his mom and dad looking at me smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others. Pray to God and ask that you are able to fulfill his will.

 

Do not forget to do good and to help one another,
because these are the sacrifices that please God.
Hebrews 13:16

I have preached many a time about about the simple things we do how they effect every thing and everything around us.  How just the simplest guesture can make a persons day better

I have a secret to share with you the more you do the more you get

I do not know how it works but it dose

Miracles just keep happening over and over and over in my life

Out comes that I could never occomplish, solutions come out of nowhere even money, cars

But make no mastake about it you will not get it if your motive are not right, God will not give it to you if it is for our own selfish desires.

But he will give us everything if its in accordance with His plan, His purpose, His will

I do not know how it happens it just dose

Hear my words brothers and sisters,

If things in your live suck and you don’t know what to do about it

If everything you try turns to  cow dung right before your eyes.

If your lives are filled with angry, resentment and shame

And all that you want is happiness, peace and love

Remember those 7 simple words

YE have not, because Ye ask not

CLOSING

Put your troubles in prayer to God today and ask for help,  let the Holy Spirit touch your life today.

The Holy Spirit, who will solve all problems, who light all roads so We can attain all goals.
Him, who gives us the divine gift to forgive and forget all evil against us and that in all instances of our life, You are with us. I want in this short prayer to Thank You, for all things and confirm once again, that We never want to be separated from You, even in spite of all material illusions, We wish to be with you in eternal glory. Thank You for your mercy toward us and ours.

And  I hope my prayers will be from the heart and not the world

I said a prayer for you today
and know God must have heard.
I felt the answer in my heart
although He spoke not a word.

I didn't ask for wealth or fame
I knew you wouldn't mind.
I asked for priceless treasure rare
of a more lasting kind.

I prayed that He'd be near you
at the start of each new day
to grant you health and blessings fair
and friends to share your way.

I asked for happiness for you,
in all things great and small,
but that you'd know his loving care
I prayed for most of all

I pray we can change lives through prayer and the power of Gods will.  I pray our prayer are honest enough to God that his will be done in our lives rather than our lives lived by our will.  And I pray that I do not forget to pray all things to you God

So all things you offer me are mine in your will in my life

AMEN

Supporting Dr. Dossey’s research is Dr. Herbert Benson, a professor at Harvard Medical School who reports that through prayer you can actually change the way your body works, triggering a specific set of physiological changes. “If prayer were a drug we wouldn’t be able to make it fast enough,” Benson further notes.

One recent study found that consistent praying actually has the power to lower the heart rate, slow respiration and brain wave activity, reduce blood pressure, relieve anxiety and in some cases even help patients avoid surgery.

Another study in Maryland of 100,000 regular churchgoers found that they had fifty percent fewer deaths from coronary artery disease as well as fifty-six percent fewer emphysema deaths.

A recent Gallup poll measuring the degree of people’s happiness found that more than half the people surveyed who read the Bible daily or weekly and attended church regularly said they were very happy.

And you can also add a longer life span to the list of benefits for those who pray and attend church services regularly. That’s the finding of two decades worth of research conducted by the National Institute for Health Care Research (NIHR) which tested for a correlation between religious activity and longevity. “People who actively participate in religious activities like going to church regularly, tend to live longer,” said Dr. David B. Larson, president of NIHR. “It’s about 30 percent more for men and 60 percent for women,” he added. Interestingly, it didn’t seem to matter which denomination the subjects went to.

A study of the success rate of drug treatment centers in Texas has shown that 45 percent of patients in religious drug treatment centers were able to successfully break their drug habit, compared to a meager five percent success rate in secular, state run centers.

Yes, there is great power in prayer. This was reaffirmed by the words of Yahshua (Jesus) when He said:

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Last modified: 12/27/08.