LETTER FROM AFRICA

This is a letter I wrote to an African pastor who said our website was instrumental in his walk with God.

It is wonderful to hear of your transformation, and I certainly will pray for you each day, as I intercede for many.  Be sure to keep me informed of your progress and specific prayer needs.

For starters, I find this to be a valuable daily discipline - I keep track of each day's time on my computer and have since January 1 of 1990, so have thousands of pages of my dealings with God.  It is so encouraging when people I have prayed for relay an answer of prayer to me and of course I know when God answers mine.    Be sure to hear the voice of God for yourself, but however he leads you it does take signifiant time to have a serious relationship with God. This is the best time of the day. or evening - unlike many, I am alone with God at night when it is quiet.  Probably more people choose to get up early in the morning for their devotional time but God knows each person's "clock". Obviously there are prayers throughout the day. It is like a high speed computer connection - always on - he talks - we talk - it is instant and it is all the time.  Nonetheless, it is good to have dedicated, uninterrupted time with our Lord every day without fail. No need  to be rigid, but I try to be sure that every day includes at least the following. 

1) Worship the Lord in song - singing aloud or in my heart.

2) Thanking God specifically for what he has done for me.

3) Praying for urgent challenges in my life and the life of others.

4) Studying systematically the Bible - I am in Matthew right now though on my Sunday programs I am in Luke 4.

5) Write down after each verse or phase what it means to me and if there is an application.

6) Write down what God is putting in my heart - perhaps something to do, an attitude to change, or specific direction in my business.

7) Write down my response to God and any prayers needed to bring what he says to happen in my life.

8) Prayers for the nations - some pray per Operation World, others generally.  I have been led to lift up every nation and territory by name to the Lord each day, but rotate specific prayers for each country to take a week - Monday is Africa, Tuesday Asia, Wednesday the Caribbean, Thursday Europe, Friday Latin America, Saturday North American, and Sunday Oceama (Australia and the Pacific).  I formed my own database of the nations including population, percentage nominal Christian, percentage evangelical, etc.   It also makes me more aware of events around the world.  This is updated frequently.

9) Prayers for the 50 most persecute Nations (Kenya has moved up - not good - to #19, right behind Qatar.  I pray for the churches in those nations and for the secular leaders.  41 of these are problem nations due to Islamic intolerance.

10) Prayers specifically for world attitudes toward the church, prayers dealing with Islamic influences, sex slavery worldwide, FGM (female genital mutilation), etc.

11) Prayers for President Trump and his officials. For wisdom and victory on key issues, particularly moral issues.

12) Prayers for other political leaders national, state, and local.

13) Prayers for people God has put in my life and on my heart to intercede for specifically each day.

14) Prayers for the church - general issues, doctrinal deviations, political deceptions, moral compromises, etc. as well as for several dozen churches praying specifically according to their needs.

15) Prayers for our families - my wife, children grandchildren, sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family. For example we have a cousin who signed an NBA contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team currently in China.  I ray for those involved in fornication or other sin and deception. I pray for the spiritual success and the move of god in their lives.

16) Prayers for schools and colleges, for proper knowledge to be shared and that which is false to fade away.  I pray for specific schools. seminaries, and influencers.

16) Prayers for my clients - jobs by category and possible new business.

17) Prayers for athletes who love the Lord for personal integrity, for salvation of their teammates, success of their marriages and so forth.

18) Prayers for those who are not born again that they would come to know the Lord.

The Lord leads different people differently, but I do believe he want all of us to be sober-minded people serious about out relationship with him and eager to intercede for the needs of others.