by Tim Cameron | Oct 2, 2017 | October 2017 Weekly Provoking Thoughts
Scripture for the Day: Daniel 6:10 “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”
As I look at the condition of our country today I am deeply persuaded that most Christians do not grasp the intention of conversion; it is after all, to come into daily fellowship with our God. The goal is not to just survive our culture, but to thrive in it and to engage it for Christ. Battling the culture requires us to make time every day for the Word and prayer. The bottom line: we have no power on our own for this war.
We daily need new grace, mercy, and power that are received from fellowship with our God. This will never be received in a hasty, superficial glance at a few verses in the morning, then on our way. We must come and wait in His presence; there we will feel our need, our ineptness. It is here we encounter the Holy Spirit.
The goal of my provoking thoughts on prayer is to help Christians realize the absolute necessity of spending time with the Lord every day. If you do not do this, the joy and power of the Holy Spirit you desire will be but a wish.
by Tim Cameron | Sep 22, 2017 | Uncategorized
What in the world does obedience mean? Just the sound of the word conjures up thoughts of: don’t smoke; don’t drink; don’t this; don’t that; bla, bla, bla, bla, bla. But, if we want to access the fullness of the Holy Spirit and see answers to prayer, we better get a precise understanding of obedience. Is it vital? Check out the verse for the day above (Rev. 22:14).
Here is the short of it: obedience is simply doing God’s will and obeying His commandments. Do you think God gives commandments men can’t obey? Look at it this way. Do loving parents require their children to perform tasks completely out of their reach? Is our Heavenly Father less kind and compassionate than our earthly parents? What an irrational thought.
Our obedience is an act of love, an expression of delight in pleasing the beloved (1 John 3:22). Here’s what I mean. It is discovering what pleases our Lord and doing it with boundless joy and anticipation. Anticipation? Yes, the great anticipation of the “God possibilities” that simple obedience brings to our prayers.
by Tim Cameron | Sep 20, 2017 | Uncategorized
The boldest statement possible exposes the fundamental truth surrounding prayer and character—without prayer there is no supernatural change in the character of the believer. Our sins are freely forgiven. God invites us to know Him intimately. God’s grace allows us the opportunity to experience the gifts of the Spirit. But, He does not give us character.
We do not become more righteous by doing righteous acts. Prayer creates the change in us that produces righteousness. Jesus commanded us to always be on our guard to cover our conduct (Luke 21:34). The most difficult thing about virtue is to live it out. Fervent, persistent, passionate prayer produces right thinking and right living. We have wasted the whole office of prayer if it does not produce godly conduct and character. The very nature of prayer requires us to stop praying or curtail our ungodly conduct. A life that is given to prayer can grow but one direction—in holiness and devotion to Jesus.
by Tim Cameron | Sep 18, 2017 | Uncategorized
There are many distinguishable traits of a Christian. They should be kind, compassionate, humble, forgiving, and more. But there is one infallible test of the child of God, prayer. The citizens of the Kingdom of God are prayerful. The citizens of this world are prayerless. Christians depend on God. The worldly depend on themselves. Yet, every Christian must cultivate and nourish a spirit of prayer, that prayer life that lingers throughout the day. Prayer must be a habit, but it needs be so much more. Prayer must be a duty, but it needs escalate so much farther than the normal inferences of that word.
Prayer is an expression of intimacy with God. It is God’s invitation to see deeply into the mystery of who He is. There is no pathway for a man who does not pray to travel down and yet call himself a Christian. There is no other way the soul (mind, emotions, and will) of a man can enter into fellowship with God. The Prayer life is the infallible test of being a follower of Christ.
by Tim Cameron | Sep 15, 2017 | Uncategorized
We can be accused of a lot of things, but we should never be accused of lacking passion for prayer. Prayer without passion is heartless. It is the fervent prayer of a righteousness man that avails much (James 5:16).
The Holy Spirit comes as fire to dwell in us. When we are baptized we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16). Our charge is not to drum up fire, but we can cry out to the Holy Spirit to burn away the chaff in our lives that prohibits us from cultivating a passionate, fervent prayer life. When a man is passionately bent on intimacy with Jesus through prayer and purity, he or she will attain all the powerful graces that adorn the child of God.
by Tim Cameron | Sep 14, 2017 | Cost of Prayer
There are two things that the God of heaven will not tolerate in His followers: lukewarmness and insincerity. These two things characterize a lack of heat and a lack of heart—God hates both (Rev. 3:15-16).
The true prayer will be prayer that is on fire, aflame. And that is the way we should be as followers of Jesus. No excuses granted here. We must have the desire and heart that presses close to God for intimacy. Jesus wasn’t excitable or given to “noisy” speech, yet, He was on fire with zeal for God’s house. And this zeal consumed Him (Ps. 69:9, John 2:17). A lack of passion for prayer is a sure sign that we are in trouble; repentance is the first step back to spiritual health.
by Tim Cameron | Sep 7, 2017 | Uncategorized
Prayerless praying misses the heart of praying; it has no passion, faith, or investment; it carries no burden. It has no grip onto God that “will not let go”. Prayerless praying is empty; it has not life or soul, no crying or weeping. Prayerless praying is a sham and gorged in insincerity. It is a dehydrated, lackluster routine that is a demanding duty. Praying out of habit is a respectable habit; however, prayer done only by the power of habit becomes a regretful habit. This is prayerless praying.
Prayerful praying gets results with God and is full of passion and faith. It entices the warrior to battle “full-in”, holding nothing back. It takes hold of God and will not release. Prayerful praying is a mighty force on the earth; it advances God’s Kingdom. By prayerful praying faith is strengthened and the possibilities with God are apprehended; by it anything God wills is activated.
by Tim Cameron | Sep 6, 2017 | Uncategorized
Prayerless Praying…Man’s way Praying Prayers That Are Heard…God’s Way
You need to hear these words, as provoking as they may be. Too many people pray only because of a great emergency, some temporary excitement, or a momentous, looming decision. None of the conditions of prayer have been met. We burst into prayer pleading with God to meet our emergency, inflame Him with our momentary excitement, or attempt move Him by our earthshaking decision at hand. What are the conditions of prayer: clean hands, abiding in Christ, and an overriding consideration for His will. Without these conditions—prayerless prayers.
We pray prayerless prayers when we have not submitted to the school of prayer and there is no symphony with our life and that of Jesus. Prayer that has only form and motion and no true substance, no true spirit of prayer, never moves God.
by Tim Cameron | Aug 16, 2017 | Uncategorized
Nite Line: Live every weeknight.
With special guest, Tim Cameron, author of 40 Days Through the Prayers of Jesus.
August 16 Wednesday WGGS Television Niteline 8 p.m. and Thursday, August 17th at 8 a.m.
WGGS Television Dove Broadcasting Greenville, South Carolina
by Tim Cameron | Aug 15, 2017 | Uncategorized
An open letter to all:
Where Are the Elijah’s of God?
Leonard Ravenhill asked that question in 1959. Keith Green later asked the same question in the early 80’s before his untimely death.
So, where are the Elijah’s of God? Ravenhill said this, “We know Elijah was a man of like passions as we are, but alas! We are not men of like prayer as he was!”
Here’s the deal–one praying person is a complete majority with God. Ravenhill goes on to say, “God is bypassing men—not because they are too ignorant, but because they are too self-sufficient. “
It is prayer God wants, Holy Spirit, on fire prayer! There is no substitute, no alternative, and no other plan. And we need to up the ante on our prayers. Elijah prayed and darkness covered the land.
Last week the heat was at 99 degrees one day and 100 the next. I could only get the temperature down to 85 in our house; our air conditioner is failing and was set to be replaced. Many of you know that my wife has suffered horribly for months with a chronic coughing condition brought on by severe allergies, a condition with her larynx, and esophageal acid reflux. The heat was making it very difficult to stay in our house.
Annamae is a woman of prayer; she gives full definition to the word indefatigable. She will not be dissuaded in her prayers, no matter her physical condition. So, we prayed for God to give us a break in the weather. Just a few days later the weather broke and has stayed “cooler”. We woke up to 69-degree weather today and forecast of highs in the 80’s and lows in the 60’s for the next week. Annamae will return to Tulsa next week to cool weather and new air-conditioning.
We have seen great answers to prayer these last months. So much greater than the weather, but, oh, does the weather count. Monstrous, miraculous answers to prayer prayed for people hundreds of miles away and prayed for the people on our block. Why do answers like this surprise us? They shouldn’t.
Through the Holy Spirit we can be armed with the entire panoply of God to overcome the enemy. As Annamae and I learn to pray about all things, we are seeing these anomalies of answered prayer turn into weekly events. I have a goal to see great answers to prayer daily.
So where are the Elijah’s? They are anywhere a person lays down his partnership with God and allows Him to be Lord with complete ownership.
