Concerning political disagreement
One big mistake people of prayer sometimes make is to insist on a “lockstep” mentality with others in order to pray in unity. We don’t have to agree on everything politically to pray for what’s happening in government. For example, I may believe that climate change happens regardless of human activity–SUVs, thermostat settings, and so on. You may firmly adhere to the more “green” theory of global warming. However, if the two of us agree that our nation is in desperate need of God’s help, then we can pray together in unity as we ask God to grant wisdom to our leadership and intervene on behalf of wrong decisions they may make. You and I don’t even have to agree as to which decisions are wrong and which are right as long as we both want God to have His way, for Jesus to be lifted up and glorified, and for men and women to come to know the knowledge of the truth.
When you pray with someone else about the nation, you won’t miss the target if you pray for His direction for those in leadership and for His intervention in wrong decisions (you don’t even have to specify which decisions are in error if you aren’t in agreement on the political details). You will be praying according to the will of God when you cry out for Jesus to be made known and glorified, and you will be hitting the mark every time you ask God to bring men and women, boys and girls to the knowledge of the truth according to the Word of God.
As you, yourself, become more comfortable and familiar on your own with praying for your nation, God will start giving you more specific direction. Step out and pray that piece before God, and then trust Him to do His part. You will grow in prayer, and you will find that your prayers do count.
Don’t let political disagreements with others hinder your prayer effectiveness. When praying with someone else, find the key components about which you can agree and hit those aspects in your prayer together. When praying alone, don’t let political agitation distract you. You know your Father, and He can lead you with His still small voice as you get quiet before Him. Then, pray what’s on your heart–pray it boldly and pray it in line with His Word and pray it with all your might–and you will hit the mark.
Dorothy
Read MoreWhy I pray for America
I have been fortunate in my life to be surrounded by believers who take the call to pray very seriously. When I got saved in college, my first church was a Tuesday and Thursday night dorm Bible study led by young Christians who had a deep relationship with Jesus. These brands of fire freely and openly spilled out their hearts in prayer and worship to God every time we gathered together.
The church I attended as a young career woman was birthed in prayer and even held regular 10 pm to 3 am prayer meetings on Friday nights for a while. Those meetings added gas to the fire that burned within me, and nothing less than seeking God fully satisfied me.
After I left that church, I attended another church while I sought God for direction. I even traveled to the Soviet Union with 6 other folks from that church to preach and win souls. What a time we had, praying in Red Square the words of Psalm 2, “Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples devise a vain thing?” Little did we know, on the Saturday we flew out of Moscow to return to America, that Monday morning the tanks would roll into Red Square and the Soviet Union would quickly become the former Soviet Union, within days. Indeed, the nations were in an uproar, and we were in on the secret before it hit the press.
Then God planted me in my current church, one that was also birthed in prayer. The leadership and lay people surrounding me in this church value prayer, pray readily and regularly, and have amazing testimonies bearing witness to the effectiveness of prayer.
Therefore, as I look at my nation, I must pray. It’s in my DNA; it is built into the very fabric of my relationship with God. When I see obstacles in my nation, I am challenged by my rich heritage to stand my ground and trust God. I feel I owe it to the Founders who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guard, nurture, protect, and defend the fledgling nation. I owe it to Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, William J. Seymour, Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson, and all the rest, both known and unknown, who took advantage of their American liberty to pour out their lives for the cause of Christ. I owe it to my dad, who although he never claimed to know God intimately, was willing as a young man to risk his life in the service of a country which guaranteed that his daughter, yet to be born, would bear the sacred right to lead her own life, speak openly, and worship God freely without fear.
I must pray. I must pray the Word of God over my nation. I must seek her deliverance when evil threatens her. I must stand my ground even if it takes the rest of my life. I can do no less, so help me God.
Read MorePutting off ’til later what you could do today
I am blessed to own a hot tub. Every year in May, I empty it, and then I scrub it out and refill it the next day. This year, I emptied it but waited a couple of weeks to clean and refill it. Big mistake.
Yesterday I armed myself with rags, wipes, sponges, bleach water, buckets, a hose, and filter cleaner. I was a bit nervous to view beneath the lid as I knew that I would see puddles of old, standing water in the various floor compartments. I was also afraid of what else I might find.
Warning: Gross Alert—what follows may disgust more squeamish readers.
Yep; half a dozen roaches and—EWWW—a dozen or more garden slugs lounged in placid contentment within the empty tub. I had to face off with each individual, nasty critter, and in my plastic gloves, I defeated the disgust-oids and rid the hot tub of its alien invaders.
Then the painstakingly tough work began. I had to carefully sanitize each square inch of the tub and under the cover. What normally takes much less than an hour took several hours.
The good news is that it is clean and free of creepy crawlies and contaminants. The lesson learned here is that I should have cleaned the tub as soon as it was emptied.
This raises the question about spiritual maintenance. When God directs you to deal with an issue in your life, do you procrastinate? Do you engage in a quick “good confession”, figuring that will hold it until you can deal with it later…and later…and later? I have, and unfortunately, these things can snowball, even to the point of—like my empty hot tub—attracting unwanted “roaches” and “slugs”.
In Chapter 6 of First of All, Pray, I wrote about the importance of dealing immediately with those things that God is targeting in your life—those things that only serve to hinder your effectiveness in prayer. If you put it off, the “contaminants” multiply. Here’s the excerpt:
“Could it be that the Lord has been speaking to you about an indiscretion, attitude, comment, or even a seemingly minor behavior in your life that you just haven’t gotten around to correcting? Don’t postpone dealing with the area which God is targeting. Why spend one more night, as Pharaoh chose to do so long ago, with the “frogs” taking up residence in your life? (See Exodus 8:8-10.) The Holy Spirit, who is kind enough to reveal these things to you (see Romans 2:4) is also powerful enough, with your cooperation, to free you from all of them as well! You repent; He provides the power to change!” (Excerpt taken from page 88; First of All, Pray: Prescription for a Nation in Crisis; © 2013–Dorothy Frick)
Such quick-to-act, tenderness of conscience has a huge impact on your prayer-effectiveness. May you be a better steward of your spiritual life than I was of my hot tub; it will surely spare you both headaches and heartbreak—and the ewww-factor!
Dorothy
Read MoreAntidote to Spiritual Staleness
I’ve had some wild dreams, most of which were the result of a colorful imagination or unusual culinary concoctions right before bed.
However, at the end of December, 2004, I had a vivid three-part dream I’d like to share. It came during a time of disappointment in myself due to spiritual staleness in my life.
Part One: I was dead (but very aware), lying on my back on a cold slab in a dark, eerie room. Across the room from me, three or so demons hopped and danced about, paying no attention to me because I was dead. Although the room was creepy and I was terribly uncomfortable, I realized I was unafraid and very safe, knowing that the demons could not touch me because I was dead. I felt a strong connection to Christ and said to myself, “Well, anyways, I’ll rise up again!”
Part Two: As I was looking out my back door, I noticed a cave off to the right. A large bear emerged, and I thought, “I didn’t know there were bears in these parts.”
Then I saw a huge Galapagos tortoise walking through the yard from the left side, and I worried that the bear would devour him. However, the bear paid no attention to the turtle. Strolling to join the Galapagos was another one—a female (I could tell by her long eyelashes. Stop laughing—it was a dream!) and the two of them walked through my yard slowly but surely, without a care in the world.
Part Three: I looked out the same door again and saw a filthy white and red tabby cat named Rowe. I knew the bear would get him, so despite the fact that my resident cats would throw hissy fits, I let him in.
I noticed problems with Rowe’s mouth right away. He had blackish blisters on his lips, and his lower right incisor was missing. I opened his mouth and saw that he had a blackish tumor the size of half a grape on the back of his tongue. My thought was to get him veterinary attention as soon as possible.
Upon awakening I realized that God was giving me insight into the staleness of my spiritual walk and was revealing steps to recapture the fire.
First, He showed me to reckon myself as dead. Dead people don’t get offended. Dead people (in Christ) cannot be touched by the enemy. “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11); “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
Secondly, He directed me to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6). The Galapagos tortoises could saunter without a care in the presence of a prowling bear because of their shell-armor. I, too, could gain confidence and move without fear in the purposes of God if I was clothed in the armor He provided.
And third was the mouth. The cat in my dream was diseased in his mouth. God revealed to me that to live effectively involved maintaining a healthy mouth. I had grown lazy with my words, complaining, backbiting, and spewing bitter words without restraint. I had pity on the sick dream cat; I needed to be equally as diligent to obtain spiritual medicine for my own mouth.
So take it from an unusual dream: Reckon yourself as dead in Christ, put on the full armor of God, and acquire spiritual medicine to heal your mouth of diseased words! These are surefire antidotes to spiritual staleness.
Read MoreWeekend
I realize how frequently all the recent bad news keeps smacking us in the face, and because of that, I want to focus my weekends on the mighty works of God, whether in the Bible, in history, in my life, or in the lives of some of you. What God has done for others, He is more than capable of doing for you. What God has done for me, He is able to do for you. What God has accomplished for you, He is willing to do again.
In 2 Chronicles 20, the nation of Judah was on the verge of being invaded by the armies of several kingdoms. In his alarm, King Jehoshaphat cried out to God and reminded Him of His promise to deliver them. He ended his prayer with these sobering but stirring words, “… we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You” (2 Chron. 20:12b).
God responded through a prophet named Jahaziel. God’s plan was revealed; God would deliver the people of Judah. The following strategies were outlined:
- Do not fear or be dismayed because of the great multitude—the battle is not yours, but God’s.
- Tomorrow go down against them. Yes, they will come up and you’ll find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel.
- You don’t need to fight in this battle, but station yourselves, stand, and see the salvation of God on your behalf.
And then God reminded them again:
- Do not fear or be dismayed—tomorrow go out to face them for the Lord is with you.
Upon hearing these words, Jehoshaphat and all of Judah and Jerusalem fell down before the Lord in worship. The praise was thunderous.
The next day they arose early in the morning and Jehoshaphat said, “Put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and you will succeed” (2 Chronicles 20:20b).
Then he appointed the singers to go out before the army, saying, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
When the singers began to sing and praise God, the Lord set ambushes against the armies coming against them and they were routed. In fact, the enemies rose up against each other, destroying one another.
Judah approached the wilderness and looked at corpses littering the ground; none of their attackers had escaped.
Take some time this weekend to get quiet before God. You don’t have to know the answers. He is all you need right now, and as you put your eyes on Him and praise Him, you can trust that He will come through for you–and the nation.
Dorothy
Read MoreSurveillance
In light of the administration’s recent admission to collecting phone records from millions of Verizon customers (a group to which I, myself, belong), I thought I’d throw out an excerpt from Chapter Two of my book for your reading pleasure.
“In a prayer-drenched society, led by leaders covered with prayer, you and your fellow citizens abide by the law and have no need to be spied upon. Your privacy is a given because both citizens and leaders typically do what is right within a structure of fair laws with just consequences for violating the laws. In a quiet, privacy-respecting society, you have freedom to work, buy, sell, communicate, travel, and assemble without need for surveillance. As prayer decreases, however, temptation within the nation—for everyone—becomes more and more difficult to resist, and crimes of all kinds increase. Sweeping lawlessness gives rise to the idea that infringement on individual privacy in order to safeguard society at large is the only solution. This is one reason why communist governments so commonly violate the privacy of their people; they don’t trust them to do the right thing. Why not? When there is no absolute God to whom individuals are accountable then traditional values of right and wrong are meaningless, discarded along with the concept of Creator. External coercion and intimidation become the only methods to ensure order. When your right to a quiet, private life is violated on an ever-increasing scale, you can bet that prayer coverage for your nation has diminished.” (Excerpt taken from pages 46-47; First of All, Pray: Prescription for a Nation in Crisis; © 2013–Dorothy Frick)
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