....We need to bring more of our churches into the ministry of "ministering." Many of our Christian churches are faithful to teach the word of God to their congregation, but are not going the extra mile to venture out into their communities to minister to the lost and hurting. They are not going out looking for the woman at the well to minister to them instead they are waiting for the woman at the well to come into their church and this needs to change. Our churches need to reach out and become more involved in their communities as they also need to get more involved in ministering to the specific needs of those who are already inside their church.
It would be great if more churches had more zealous and knowledgeable volunteers to go out knocking on doors in their community to invite people to come to church for this would give our people an opportunity to evangelize and tell somebody about Jesus Christ. It would also give them the opportunity to minister to the ones they meet who are open to receive and who realize that their life is in need of a change. If your church does not currently have an outreach program (reaching out and ministering to your community) why not talk to your minister about starting such a program? If your church only teaches the word of God, but is not ministering to the needs of its members then perhaps you could start a "ministry of ministering" for your church and your community. If your minister for whatever reason can not get involved in such a venture then this would be a great opportunity for some spirit filled members of the congregation to begin such a ministry. Remember the work is plenty and the workers few.
What this prayer will achieve, or what praying effectively will achieve for a believers life. It is my intention that this written prayer the "Daily Maintenance Prayer" will achieve many goals, but that it would accomplish two greater purposes.
First that it would get the newer Christian protected under a healthy covering of prayer on a daily basis and effectively invite the working hands of God and His Holy Spirit into their life each day even though a newer Christian would not have that knowledge yet to know how to speak an effective covering of protection over them, or effectively bring the fullness of God's power into their every situation.
The second purpose being for the older Christian in that they could use a prayer such as this one as a guideline to help give them the best possible covering of God's protection one can get as they are being prepared by the Holy Spirit to go to even greater levels with the Lord. The closer one gets to walking in their purpose (the purpose God had intended for them) the more satan will step up his attack against that person's life and so more is the need for that Christian to step up their prayer life and increase what they pray for. The bible says to pray unceasingly for all things and that is a position that we as a Christian are to take, and that is a part of our role as a Christian.
Ephesians 6:17-18 NIV 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
James 5:13-16 NIV 13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
I know that there are some Christians who are of the belief that we don't need to be so diligent in our prayers and that God will still work out their every wrong and make it right. They believe that God is going to protect them and fulfill their every need whether or not they would be diligent to ask God to do so because they believe that God loves us so much that He just wants to do these things for us. But that is not what the word of God says. They believe that whether or not our walk with the Lord is as faithful as it should be, or whether or not we are attempting to gain His knowledge and walk in that knowledge that God is still going to protect us and pave all of our paths for us.
Why do they believe this? There are many reasons why one believes this but it is mostly out of ignorance they do. They believe that there is something in saying the words "I now make You Jesus Christ the Lord of my life" that automatically has Jesus Christ moving on our behalf to protect us, avenge us, heal us, deliver us, provide for us etc. without us ourselves having to do anything of any great significance, but again this is not what the word of God says.
Jesus Christ said many things such as I will do anything that you ask the Father in my name, He said whatever you bind is bound, as well as Jesus said "If you love me keep my commandments." but I don't recall where He said you just need to make me the Saviour of your life and I will do the rest. Jesus did not say stand aside and I will take care of your every need, until I return to get you so just go on with your lives to the best of your ability. Jesus said many things, but He did not say He would climb our mountain for us, persevere our struggles for us, or run our race for us. He said He would be with us through these times but not do it for us.
Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
When we do our part God will do His. To be protected from the evil one each day and live righteously we need to pray protection in place over our lives and the lives of our family each day. To restrict the evil one access to our lives we need to look and see where we may be giving satan access to trespass into our lives and then we need to make every effort to deny satan that access and pray those doors closed. To have more of the Holy Spirit living within us we need to make more room within ourselves for the Holy Spirit to live and that comes in the process of our maturing in our spiritual relationship with God. This will come by the refining of our soul and the training our souls receive in the process of our relationship with God. But equally important this will happen when we encourage God to refine us by His fire and when we desire more of and invite the Holy Spirit to have free reign of our lives.
If we want to be changed by the working of Gods hands into what God would have us changed into then we need to recognize what it is about us that needs to be changed and ask God to help bring about that change. At the very least if we are not sure what needs to be changed then we can should continually give God permission to work on whatever area of our life He sees fit. Some situations though require that we recognize what needs to be changed in our life and we specifically invite God into that work. E.g. If a person has pride then he/she needs to recognize this in themself and recognize that this is a quality that a Christian should not have, and they should petition God to help them in this change until they have victory with Christ over pride.
In our growth with the Lord we will begin to recognize what needs to change in our lives and we can begin to pray accordingly for that change to come. We also need to be in agreement to whatever change God would bring about for our lives and give Him the free reign to bring about that change. How do we do that? By first recognizing the need in our self to change and by desiring for that change to take place for we cannot change unless we first desire to and secondly by continuously seeking God to reveal to us what needs to change in us in that we can continually be completed in His work for our lives.
As I said if we do our part God is faithful to do His part and yes we as a Christian need to invite God into our every situation.
God does not continue to let the suffering suffer in this world for the sole purpose that they did not give God a cordial and proper invitation to relieve their suffering. God does not allow the struggling to struggle alone in this world for the sole reason that they did not cordially and properly invite God to help them in their struggle, their sickness, their oppression etc. Yes we do need to invite God into our every situation, but it is not for the sole reason that God wants an invitation into that situation, but it is because God needs that invitation.
For us to get spiritual victory over the enemy to God's throne and the oppression he puts against us we need the fullness of God's spiritual intervention working on our behalf to get that victory. For us to be changed into a new creation, from one who has been walking more in their flesh to one who has been transformed by the Holy Spirit to walk more in their spirit man, or woman we need God's full intervention to take us there. God is always trying to work in our lives and intervene where He can to bring about change in us, but to have God's full intervention working in our lives we need to bring Him into our every situation and we need to do our part.