Praying for our Business Sphere

First, I want to thank Fire of God Ministries for their commitment to 24 hour prayer today!

What follows is a part of the ORT Prayer list for Business. This comes on the heels of my post about The Original Occupy Movement. Here is a way to pray for God to influence our business life, and for us to resist the devil in the same place...

Areas concerning Business to pray for: For business owners to prosper and create good jobs with fair pay, for employees to have good work ethic, for fair-minded, reasonable and wise Government Officials that pass righteous laws that help create an environment for good paying jobs

Thank God for:  

• His provision and His plans & purposes for the work of our hands

• His Divine Wisdom & Strength to help

• His Redeeming Grace to sanctify such a significant area of our lives

Repent for:

• Complaining about work – not recognizing your work or job is a gift from God

• Dishonesty in the workplace

• Being a poor Christian example in the workplace

• Complaining about our bosses and our work

• Leaving God out of our business life

• Mistreating other people in the workplace

• Lack of diligence, attentiveness, & excellence in our work

Declare:

• Jesus Christ is Lord over all businesses

• God's Power and Wisdom is available to help prosper the work of our hands

• Our businesses in Gainesville will glorify & please God and help others

• Christians will be salt and light in the workplace

• The Gospel will go forth in the workplace

Pray:

• For those who are unemployed and desperate for work and steady income

• That business leaders will have wisdom & vision to make good & righteous choices

• For Christians to have favor in the workplace

• That there would be honesty and integrity in business dealings

• For bosses to respect workers and workers to respect bosses

• That growth, development, & mentoring be made available in the workplace

• For creative ideas from management and workers to improve product, working conditions & relationships

• That the City, State and National Government would make it possible for companies to be profitable in Gainesville and create a positive workforce

• For Business & Education to network together for the benefit of all

• For Christians to have wisdom and boldness to share their faith in the workplace

Resist the enemy:

• Resist dishonesty and abuse in the workplace

• Resist complaining, back-biting and dishonor in the workplace

• Resist the spirit of greed and the temptation to make money more important than people

The Original Occupy Movement

First, I want to say that there is no sponsor for this day's 24 hour prayer.

In Luke Chapter 19 Jesus tells a story about a nobleman who is leaving for awhile and he gives money to his servants and tells them to, "Occupy until I come." Those servants went out and got mixed results. Some made profits of varying sizes, while one hid his money in a piece of cloth and brought it back, making no profit. The nobleman comes back to reward each according to what he has done. The person who made the most gets more, the person who made no profit has his money taken away and given to the one who made the most.

This is a story that Jesus is telling about himself. His disciples thought the Kingdom of God was going to be restored at that time, and Jesus wanted them to keep their eye on the ball and realize that they had work to do, and that He would not be returning for a long time.

Today's Occupy movement is about taking up space, holding up progress, and making a statement against greed. And it takes place in the vacuum left by the church, which takes up space and has little to say about greed. Well, OK, some churches actually promote greed and materialism.

The church needs to reclaim the original occupy movement by entering the greed discussion from a Biblical point of view instead of what the modern occupiers are doing: opposing it with envy and anger. All of our political problems are merely manifestations of sin and spiritual death. They cannot be defeated by rules and regulations and ignorance-exploiting politicians. Only revival of the church and a Great Awakening in America will really give us Hope and Change.

The Lord's Prayer

First, I want to thank New Horizons Outreach for covering this day with 24 hour prayer.



I planted this video of Charlotte Church singing the Lord's Prayer simply for your inspiration. Have a blessed day.

Covering all the bases

First, I want to thank my home church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship, for stepping up and covering Gainesville with 24 hour prayer today!

In my last post I talked about resisting the enemy, and I remembered something I meant to add to it. Many years ago my son was feeling sick before he went to bed. He was about five years old and he was trying not to cry, but he was in pain. I prayed for him, used all the appropriate promises of God from the Bible and finished it off in Jesus name. He was still sick and in pain. I told him goodnight and closed the door.

On the other side of the door, I could hear him crying, and it made me mad. Why was he still sick? Why was he still suffering? I was really angry! I turned, opened the door and shouted, "Satan, I bind you and your spirit of infirmity in Jesus name, and I command you to leave!" I told my son goodnight again and closed the door.

Suddenly, I heard him cry out, "Dad!" When I opened the door and looked in he was smiling, and he told me, "It's gone!"

Sometimes we are asking God for things that we already have the authority to do ourselves. We just have to evict the spiritual forces that are hindering our prayers.

In the Old Testament, there is a story of Daniel praying and fasting to get and answer from God. After more than 3 weeks he got this message:

Daniel 10:11 He said to me, “O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. 14 “Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.”

 In the new Testament, Paul refers to the Devil as "the prince and power of the air" in Ephesians 2:2, and later he tells us that we do not struggle against flesh and blood, "but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

So, it's not weird to take authority over the enemy. It's just Biblical!

Resisting the enemy

First I want to thank Victory Church for giving us 24 hour prayer cover today!



For many years I have looked at God's Word and His promises as a life support system in a sinful world. And I have certainly benefited from that way of thinking. But I am afraid I have been only thinking of myself and my own survival!

God has not intended that I merely survive here on Earth. He has expected me to wage war against the Kingdom of Darkness, and overcome the spirits that oppress this world. That is supposed to take place NOW, in this time, and not in the next life, when I won't need it, nor be able to act in this world.

In over our heads

First, I want to thank Harvest Bible College for stepping up and covering this day in prayer for 24 hours.



Here, John Piper is exhorting us to use prayer for wartime communications. Well, we are at war with spiritual forces that want us dead and in hell. If we are not aware of this, or if we are just bystanders in this cosmic conflict, it may be that we are being herded timidly to disaster.

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." Paul, in 2 Corinthians 10:4.

As you go through your day and look at your city, do you see it as a place that is occupied by foreign invaders from the Kingdom of Darkness? Or are you just used to it, because it was always this way? Or, worse, are you a collaborator, some one who assists the wicked at staying in power by keeping the other prisoners docile and busy?

This is why we pray for every sphere of society: because the enemy has influence over every one of them. And that is why a part of our prayer is to resist the enemy and to repent of our sins and of cooperating with him. Please join us today!

Prayer is intentional

First, I want to thank Servants of Christ for taking this day for 24 hour prayer!



I heard someone putting down prayer meetings one day, saying he didn't need them because, "My life is a prayer!" I suppose it can be, if you are "in the moment" all day long. But most of us aren't. I believe that people have to draw away from the mundane, daily grind to pray; especially to pray effectively. Even Jesus took time to get away from everyone to pray, and He was probably "in the moment" more than anyone!

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Jesus, in Matthew 6:6