How to Pray for an Unsaved Loved One

Here is an article from Kenneth Copeland on praying for a unsaved loved on.  What do you think of His comments?  Do you agree with him?  Even if you do not, PRAYING for those who we love is VITAL to their becoming a person of faith in Christ.

Bless you today!

______________________

People often get discouraged when praying for the salvation of loved ones and begin to wonder if their prayers ever really help. Well, guess what? Yes! Your prayers can be a powerful force in the lives of your unsaved relatives and friends if you know how to pray for them according to the wisdom and Word of God.

The problem is that most Christians don’t know how to pray with skill. They just throw prayers in every direction and hope something comes of it. That’s especially true when it comes to praying for the lost. It’s not uncommon to see believers praying for friends or loved ones to get saved for 20, 30 or even 40 years without results.

What exactly are these people praying? It usually boils down to something like this: “Oh, God, please save my brother. He needs to be saved.” (Don’t you think God knows he needs saving?) Then they might go a step further and start rehearsing their brother’s sins: “Lord, he got drunk again last night and we had to bail him out of jail again. If You don’t save him, he’s going to drive us all crazy!”
That may sound funny—the example is a little extreme to make a point—but many of us have prayed prayers that sounded something like that.

What we haven’t understood is this: There’s nothing wrong with your unsaved loved one (or any other unsaved person) except the devil. No human being who truly understood the salvation Jesus has offered to us would reject that salvation of his own free will. No one!
Why, then, are so many people sill unsaved? II Corinthians 4:4 tells us it is because “the god of this world [the devil] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Once you realize it’s the devil (not your loved one) who’s the real problem, your first prayer step becomes clear. You must get the devil out of your loved one’s way.
As Jesus said, “How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?” (Matthew 12:29). You can’t! So bind him.

Say, “You spirit operating in the life of my loved one, blinding ________ to the gospel to keep ________ out of the kingdom of God, I bind you now. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. I carry His authority and righteousness, and in His Name I command you to desist in your maneuvers. I spoil your house according to the Word of God and I enter into it to deliver my loved one from your hands.”

Now, you may not be able to cast that devil entirely out of the situation, because your loved one may invite him back in faster than you can cast him out. But you can bind that spirit and keep it bound. It may keep you busy for a while, but you can do it.
You’ll find your next prayer step in Matthew 9:37-38. There, Jesus was looking out at the multitudes who needed ministry and He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
It’s the Word of God that brings faith for salvation: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). So you need to see to it that the Word gets into your loved one’s heart.
“How?” you say, “My loved one won’t listen to me!”
Probably not, but God knows who your loved one will listen to, and He’ll send that person halfway around the world to talk to your loved one if necessary.

So pray to the Lord of the harvest: “Father, I’m asking You to send laborers across ________’s path, laborers who are equipped with the Word of God about salvation, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, healing and deliverance. Send laborers who can communicate effectively with ________ so Your Word can reach his/her heart.”

Once you’ve prayed for your loved one like that, from then on, put your faith in action by treating your loved one like he’s/she’s saved. Don’t treat your loved one like he’s/she’s not good. On the contrary, every time you see your loved one, say, “Praise God! Isn’t it good to know Jesus?” Then just stand back and watch how things change. You’ll be amazed.
It’s happened many times. And it can happen that way for you and your loved one. So don’t give up. Get smart! Start praying according to the Word and praying by faith…and you will see the salvation of the Lord!

Here is a sample prayer for your unsaved loved ones. As you speak God’s Word, remember that it will not return to Him void. It will prosper in the thing whereto it is sent (Isaiah 55:11):
“Father, I come before You in prayer and in faith, believing. Your Word says You desire all men to be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth, so I bring ________ before You this day.
“I break the power of Satan from his assignments and activities in ________’s life in the Name of Jesus. Now, while Satan is bound, I ask that You send forth the perfect laborers to share the good news of the gospel in such a way that ________ will listen and understand it. As the truth is ministered, I believe ________ will open his/her eyes to the gospel, come out of the snare of the devil and make Jesus Lord.

“Father, I ask that You fill ________ with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. As I intercede in his/her behalf, I believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is activated, and from this moment on, I shall praise and thank You for ________’s salvation. I am confident that You are alert and active, watching over Your Word to perform it. It will not return to You void. It will accomplish that which You please and prosper in the thing whereto it was sent.

“Therefore, my confession of faith is: ‘God has begun a good work in ________’s life and He will perform it and bring it to full completion until the day of Jesus Christ, in Jesus’ Name.’”

Christian Kids Club! BG CLUBS!!

NEW SONG FOR SUNDAY

Listen to this new song for Sunday called "Because Of Your Love"  Paul Baloche.
Listen to it HERE...

2010 TOP 10 NEW worship songs

Hello everyone.

On the worshiptogether.com website they have listed the top 10 new worship songs of 2010.  Please have a listen to them (below) and let me know if you would like to do some (or all) at LPC?
http://blog.worshiptogether.com/worshiptogether/2010/12/top-new-worship-songs-for-2010.html

They write… “This past year has been a wonderful one for the Worship Together crew. We launched our brand new site, added Hillsong Church as a new partner, hosted our own conference and introduced you to more new songs in 52 weeks than ever before.

To celebrate we've put together a list of the Top 10, most viewed, songs we have added to the site over the past year. You can listen, download Free Sheet Music and watch a New Song Cafe video for most of these exceptional new worship songs that are being sung in churches around the world!”

Praying for you!
-PK

Our God // Chris Tomlin

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

I Will Follow // Chris Tomlin

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

Restless // Audrey Assad & Matt Maher

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

All To Us // Chris Tomlin

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

We Cry Out // Jeremy Camp

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

Forever Reign // Hillsong LIVE

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

Joyful (The One Who Saves) // Brenton Brown

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

Majesty Of Heaven // Chris Tomlin

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

Our God Is Love // Hillsong LIVE

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

Now Unto The One // Evan Wickham

Listen | Lyrics | Free Lead Sheet

“Just Words”

A few weeks ago (January 20^th) was 50 years since USA president, John F. Kennedy gave, what some say, was the greatest inaugural address of all time. 

Do you remember what he said? How about some of it? Maybe you are too young to have heard it live but most people have heard it and even some of His sentences still ring in our ears today. 

Sentences like “…a new world of law -- where the strong are just, and the weak secure, and the peace preserved.”  Or “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”  But the most famous words are “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  

Great words!  Words that stirred a nation and still move people deeply 50 years after they were spoken.  Words can do that.  People who have the gift of putting words together can start a fire in a man soul that will never go out!   

Think of how Martin Luther King, Jr grabbed the attention of the world with the words “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."  

President Abraham Lincoln in his famous Gettysburg address said "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” 

England Prime Minister Winston Churchill said in His first speech to the House of Commons  “I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all allowance, for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act. I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."  

Yet none of their words, as amazing as they were, compare to the words of Jesus Christ.  Words like “for God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son” and “Yes I am with you always, until the very end of time.” Jesus also said “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”   How about these words that have often crossed my mind, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”   

These words of Jesus, and many others, though spoken over 2000 years ago still, to this day, have changed more lives, comforted more people and given more courage than any other words ever spoken.  Surely these must be more than the words of a mere man?  I think they are!  I believe Jesus was much more than just a man who had a gift of putting words together.  I believe that he was who he claimed to be… God Almighty!  

Let me ask you, have you ever read His words?  If yes, how about lately?   If not why not commit yourself to reading the words Jesus said more often in this year.  You, like so many other people in the past and to this day, may find your life completely changed as you do.  His words can do that! They have changed my life and still deeply affect me.   I pray that you will read them and read them often and that they will speak and challenge you as much as they have for so many others for so many years! 

A YEAR OF PROMISE

2011 is a year of promise for LPC!

As much as you and I have failed and have been failed by others who have made promises this is not something that God has ever done… he is the one true promise maker and promise keeper…

In fact understanding the relationship and the role that  God’s promises have in our lives as His follower is very important.  Have you ever noticed how promises and God are SO connected so interwoven?  

Soon into the story of the first people in Genesis Chapter three we read a the first promise of God.  The first promise of God was soon after Adam and Eve who rebelled against their Creator, God in His grace, even as He pronounced judgment, spoke also of grace and deliverance for them.

To the Tempter, God said: “I will put enmity (a feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism )between you (the snake the devel)  and the woman, and between your  seed (kids) and her seed (kids) he will crush your head,   and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:15).

There is the first promise of GOD… that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent… it would take 1000 s of years for that promise to be kept… but it was kept.  

A few pages later in the Bible we see God making a “Covenant” (is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action) to Noah.  Then a few pages after that we see another promise that God makes to an old man named Abram.  On and On as we read the Bible we see God promising many things to people;
*To David that he would be king…
* To Joshua that he would conquer a new land
* To the people of Israel he promised provision
* To kings he promised judgment
* To those in exile he promised deliverance
* To those dying he promised heaven
* To those heavy burdened by sin… He promised to take their burden away.

Yes, God and promises are very connected, and it is VERY important for us as followers to understand this connection as it has great implications to our following Christ.  This year, 2011 we want to learn and know what God has promised and how those promises are to be viewed and understood. As we learn or review what they are we pray that God, by His Spirit in us will continue to deeply affect us and cause even a greater desire in us to share His promises to everyone, anywhere, who will listen.

So memorize the theme verse then come join us on Sundays as we worship this promise making God!

We are all called to be MISSIONARIES

In 2010 the invitation of the Lord to our Church was to that everyone become missionaries in the communities we are called into.  This is the meaning of being a missional church.  Here is a story that though I am not sure it if is true, is good to read anyway.  You never know what God wants to do as we join him on His mission to reach people with the Gospel.

__________________________

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the Pastor
and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out
Gospel Tracts.

This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his
son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well
as pouring rain.

The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad,
I'm ready.'

His Pastor dad asked, 'Ready for what?'

'Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out.'

Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring rain.'

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people
still going to Hell, even though it's raining?'

Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.'

Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go? Please?'

His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the
tracts, be careful son..'

'Thanks Dad!'

And with that, he was off and out into the rain.. This eleven year old boy
walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he
met in the street a Gospel Tract .

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet
and down to his VERY LAST TRACT. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone
to hand a tract to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to
the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody
answered.

He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still
no answer.

Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to leave, but something
stopped him.

Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the
door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch!

He rang again and this time the door slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly
asked, 'What can I do for you, son?' With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up
her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I
just want to tell you that * JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU * and I came to
give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His
great LOVE.'

With that, he handed her his last tract and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'

Well, the following Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit.
As the service began, he asked, 'Does anybody have testimony or want to say
anything?'

Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet.

As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face, 'No
one in this church knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before
last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some time ago,
leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and
rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came to the end of the
line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my
home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on
the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on
that chair, so lonely and broken-hearted I was about to leap off, when
suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, 'I'll
wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.'

I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more
insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly...

I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings
my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for
the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there
on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever
seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you!

The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead,
TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just
came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU .' Then he gave me this
Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand..

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed
my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my
attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.

You see-- -I am now a Happy Child of the KING. Since the address of your
church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come here to personally
say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just in the nick of time and by
so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell..'

There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to
THE KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad
descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated....

He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and probably this
universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for his
son.... Except for One. 

THANK YOU

TEACHING KIDS TO PRAY

I read this article by by Tina Houser (publications director for KidzMatter who lives in Atlanta USA), who is encouragin parent to be active in teaching our kids to pray.  As we begin a new year, I would encourage you to be active in praying and in teaching your kids to pray. 

What do do think of her ideas?


As a child, I remember that every day closed with one of my parents sitting on the side of my bed, the covers pulled up under my chin, and me muttering...
Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Night after night after night after night, that third line sent chills through me. Most certainly, some frightened adult had written that prayer poem out of a desire of his heart, but it lived on to torture children all over the world, right before they went down for a restful night’s sleep. After a while, I just let the words tumble out of my mouth and tried not to think about what any of it actually meant. And this is one of the prominent ways we teach children to pray—a rhyme that is said over and over without real meaning to the child.
Another way we teach children to pray is nothing short of a Santa’s wish list. We ask children to share their requests, which is another way of saying, “Let’s tell God what you want Him to do for you.” They quickly rattle off a long “To Do” list of relatives and friends who are sick and pets that are missing. Then we acknowledge that God answers prayer only if God does it the way we’ve suggested. This may come as a surprise, but God really answers every prayer. His answers are of such a wide variety that we can’t even imagine the possibilities. It’s an every day occurrence, though, to hear someone say, “God still answers prayer,” when what they mean is, “God answered in the way I wanted Him to.”

Is this how we should teach our children to pray? Scary prayers? Prayers that fall from their tongues without thought? Prayers that find themselves alongside nursery rhymes? Prayers that instruct God exactly what He’s supposed to do for us? What would your best friend think if every time you spoke with him, you just said the same rhyme? And she most certainly wouldn’t stick around as your friend if all you ever talked to her about was what you wanted her to do for you. Something needs to change in the way we teach our children to pray.
We’re just downright good at getting ourselves into messes and then praying that God will get us out of them somehow. Instead of praying for deliverance from the mess, what if we started teaching our children to pray in the middle of the mess, not with their minds set on deliverance, but simply asking God to help them see how they can grow in His wisdom by going through it? How about praying for the strength to make it through to the other side?
If you look back on your life and identify the times when you grew spiritually—those times when spiritual growth seemed to come in leaps and bounds—I venture to say that it was in times of struggle. It was during those times when there were more questions about life than there were answers that you felt God moving in your life in a tremendous way. That’s when you saw miracles happen. That’s when you found yourself resting in His presence. Through those times, spiritual truth became clearer. So why do we shy away from that? Why do we pray that we never have to experience it? Why do we teach our children to pray safe prayers that if answered in the way they are prayed would only keep them from searching for God’s truth and His plan for their lives?
As a newlywed, 34 years ago, I woke my husband up in the middle of the night to ask him a question, “Why do we need to pray if God already knows everything?” I was content to ask the question then roll over and go back to sleep. My husband, on the other hand, wrestled with the question the rest of the night. Over the years, we’ve come back to that conversation, and it’s been a growing time.

So why do we pray? It’s about coming into His presence. It’s about being part of a relationship that is alive and full of meaning. I’ve talked to a lot of children’s workers, and they all hang their heads in unison when I talk about those times when we look up and see parents at the door. We put our words in high speed and quickly tell the kids to bow their heads and close their eyes so we can pray. While you have your head bowed, the kids are putting their jackets on and not at all thinking about spending time in the presence of God. That sure doesn’t feel like leading the children to a relationship that is alive and full. The Lord deserves an apology.

One of the first things you can do to elevate the importance of prayer is change where it falls in your time with the kids. We open with a ceremonial prayer and then close haphazardly. The children know what to expect so their brains experience something similar to the sound that depicts the off-screen teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons … blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Think about the ways you experience a friend. You share a meal together. You go to a game with rowdy fans together. You sit with him in silence as he grieves the loss of a loved one. You sing karaoke with her. You sit quietly on a dock waiting for a fish to bite. We need to teach our kids that there are an endless number of ways they can experience the presence of God through prayer.

Prayer is a spiritual discipline, and like other disciplines, it needs to be practiced and experienced on a regular basis in order to become something that we can’t imagine living without. So our challenge is to give children an opportunity to experience the presence of God in different ways. They need to be shown how each time they engage in a conversation with God, it can be new and fresh. Prayer should be a time of evaluation, when each person makes a conscious effort to identify their spiritual condition and expose that before the Lord.
The best way to teach kids to pray is to help them understand that there is no set place or position or time of day. Since God is omnipresent and prayer is experiencing the presence of God, then anywhere, any time, any position is in fair territory. Let me just get your creative juices flowing with these prompting ideas.
Let John the Baptist help you pray. When John was in the wilderness, he told the people that: (1) they needed to confess their sins, (2) they needed to exchange their old lives for a new one, (3) they needed to be baptized, (4) they needed to stay on track, and (5) they needed to live authentic lives. Help the kids identify where they are in these five points. If they need to confess their sins (point #1), then tell them to put one finger of one hand in the palm of the other hand. If they have asked the Lord to forgive them of their sins, but need help staying on track so they don’t slide back into those old habits (point #4), then tell them to put four fingers of one hand in the palm of the other hand. Each point gives them a way to talk to the Lord about where they are spiritually.
Pray like Daniel. Daniel’s disobedience to King Nebuchadnezzar’s law was obvious because he prayed three times a day at his window. When Daniel prayed, he was unashamed. He didn’t care what other people thought of him. He only knew that he was devoted to God. You probably have a window in your worship room and most kids have a window in their bedroom. Use a Crayola window marker to write on the window. You can simply write, “Pray Today” on the window, or the kids can actually write out their prayer in its entirety on the window. Then kneel down at that window and look to the sky. Concentrating on the sky will act as a focal point and help kids clear their minds of other thoughts.
Pray like Moses. When Moses heard of Koreh’s plans of rebellion, the Bible tells us that Moses’ first reaction was to drop to the ground and pray. So instruct the kids to kneel all the way and bend over with their faces to the floor. Teach the children that when they are threatened by anything, they can pray like Moses and lay themselves before God.
Pray with the unseen paper clip. Lay a paper clip on the table. Cover the paper clip with your hand so you can feel it under your knuckles. Then place a bar magnet over your knuckles. Slowly lift your hand with the bar magnet still against the knuckles. The paper clip will hang from the palm of your hand as long as the magnet stays in place. You can’t see the paper clip hanging there, but you can feel the power of the magnet. Pray that even though we can’t see where God is leading, we will always feel God’s presence. Seeing this object lesson will give the kids a way to associate with God leading them in ways they can’t see.
Pray a color. This is especially good with younger children. Pull one crayon from a full box. Thank God for everything you can think of that is that color. Smother God with thankfulness prayers of a particular color. That seems like a much better way to say goodnight than “IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE.”

Let’s raise this generation of kids to feel at ease with prayer and know it as a real conversation, not just a rhyme or a give-me list. Let’s raise them to not be afraid of going through any life situation, because God will be with them and teach them great spiritual truth on the journey.

Merry Christmas and God Bless you in 2011

From all of us at LifePoint Church 

Isaiah 9:6

 "For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."