by Tim Cameron | Nov 26, 2016 | Holy Spirit, prayer
If we get away from brooding on the tragedy of God upon he Cross in our preaching, it produces nothing. It does not convey the energy of God to man; it may be interesting but it has no power. But preach the Cross-, and the energy of God is let loose. It pleased God to by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. “We preach Christ crucified.”
You see, we lose power if we can’t concentrate on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these, we are to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We have to concentrate on the great point of spiritual energy—the Cross, to keep in contact with that center where all power lies, and the energy will be let loose.
Oswald Chambers
by Tim Cameron | Nov 22, 2016 | Francis Frangipane, Holy Spirit, prayer
The Place of Immunity
Considering the size of God’s promises, it is actually a misfortune that most of us have no more time than a few minutes of devotions each day and a church service or two a week. The secret place in prayer and communion with our God is not a place to come and visit now and then, but a dwelling. For those who dwell with God, His presence is not merely our refuge, it is a permanent address.
This place of communion of heart between Christ and His bride is the place of immunity. It is God’s shelter from the distress and distractions of life. Here, He tells us what to pray; and here our prayers are answered.
Francis Frangipane
by Tim Cameron | Nov 22, 2016 | Holy Spirit, prayer, T. M. Anderson
We cannot ignore the fact that we desperately need a startling manifestation of God to shake us out of our spiritual lethargy and selfish complacency. We cannot substitute a program for power and have the least semblance of hope that the unsaved will be attracted by it.
Unless believers in the church today have their spiritual strength replenished repeatedly by the Spirit they will not be able to overcome the increasing power of spiritual wickedness threatening them today. The church cannot cope with the menacing threat of worldliness except the companies of believers pray for power to meet the insidious threat.
T. M. Anderson in 1937
by Tim Cameron | Nov 16, 2016 | Holy Spirit
Have You Done Any of This Lately?
The two prerequisites to successful Christian living are vision and passion, both of which are born in and maintained by prayer. The ministry of preaching is open to few; the ministry of prayer—the highest ministry of all human offices—is open to all. Spiritual adolescents say, “I’ll not go tonight, it’s only a prayer meting.” It may be that Satan has little cause to fear most preaching. Yet past experiences sting him to rally all his infernal army to fight against God’s people praying.
Modern Christians know little of “binding and loosing,” thought the onus is on us—“Whatsoever ye shall bind…” Have you done any of this lately? God is no prodigal with His power; but to be much for God, we must be much with God.
Leonard Ravenhill
by Tim Cameron | Mar 20, 2016 | Holy Spirit
Passion is the power that moves our world and directs the course of our lives. Passion is the soul of prayer. If there is insufficient prayer in our lives it is because we lack passion or our passion is misplaced. If you look at your life and judge whether your desire has been wholehearted, as God would have it, you may see that a lack of passion has caused the failure.
God’s word is true for each one of us. “If you search for me with all your heart you will find me when you seek me” (Jeremiah 29:13).
We may have a strong desire for spiritual blessings. However, alongside them are other passions that occupy a large place in our interests. Our spiritual passion is not all absorbing. And we are puzzled why our prayers are not heard. God wants our whole heart.
Many of us desire the gift of intercession and power to call down God’s blessing on others. Simply put, we must give up other passions and give ourselves wholly to God. Sports, hobbies, movies/TV, and on, all of these distractions and misplaced passions keep us from being wholly given to God in prayer. The first step to take toward possession of intercession is giving up our “other” passions and gives ourselves completely to God through prayer.
The Lord Jesus more than once asked those following him what they wanted. We must cry out for the desire to pray and intercede. We do not inherently have the strength for this task. If you want God to bestow on you the gift of faithfulness in prayer, you must declare this to yourself and God. Continually cry out to Him and ask for the Holy Spirit to stir up the passion in your life for the grace of prayer and intercession.
by Tim Cameron | Mar 15, 2016 | Holy Spirit
What kind of life does a person have to lead to pray and see God answer prayers? Is there something a person has to do to receive what is prayed for?
Here’s the short of it. Power in prayer depends on the life we live. When our life is in line with God’s Word our ways are pleasing to Him, and the Holy Spirit will teach us how to pray. We will see answers to prayer. The scriptures are all to familiar:
“If you stay joined to me, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted” (John 15:7). And in James, it is the prayer of a righteous man that “has great power and wonderful results” (James 5:16).
So, what must we do? The answer is as unassuming as it is guileless, we must live as a branch totally depending on the vine for our strength. All power comes from the vine. You see the branch has but one purpose, to produce fruit. Followers of Jesus live to bear fruit and bring glory to God. With this life of abiding comes the grace to pray in the spirit and receive whatever we ask.
The Father seeks fruit from out lives. He is the vinedresser. God Himself takes on the responsibility to see that we are all we should be. He is the one who prunes so more fruit will be produced. Pray and let the Holy Spirit take the snips to your life.
My earthly father taught me that no fruit-bearing plant like the grapevine produces so much “wild wood”. It must be pruned severely every growing season. Any branch that desires to bring glory to the Father and produce much fruit must submit itself to the vinedresser. All this wild wood pulls away the strength of the vine and hinders the growth of fruit. It is the luxurious, good for nothing wild wood that must be pruned and thrown away.
What is it in your life that saps away your strength and produces ornamental trappings good for nothing? It must be pruned! It is abiding in the vine and seasonal pruning that produces a life that can pray.
