Author: Larry Soape

Larry Soape is the Associate Pastor for Median & Senior Adults, and Missions at FBCSA.

40 Days of Prayer – Victory

How do you view prayer?  Is it a second alternative when ‘I can’t do it myself’?  Is it an appendix to the plans you have already made? God sees prayer differently.   Prayer is the direction and power for all the Kingdom work that we do.  The more we have to do, the more time we should spend in prayer.  We may serve God by doing good things, but if they are done in our power, on our timetable, or according to our plan, they will not be eternal.  Scripture says those works will be burned up.

Day 27 – Will you pray for our Strategic Planning in January?

Now is the time to be praying for the direction of our church.  Ask God to prepare our hearts, guide our planning, and empower our plans for His glory.  Let’s not wait until we have made our decisions and then ask God to bless our plans.  Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the Lord.”

Re: Verse reading – Luke 12:13-34 (day four)

40 Days of Prayer – Lostness

What a lead-in for missions!  Our Re:Verse passage for this week in Luke 10:25-37.  What was Jesus’ answer to the lawyer?  Verse 27 says, “And He answered , ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’”  How better can we love our neighbor than to pray for them and share with them the Gospel?  Our missions program is about taking the Gospel to the lost of the world.  There are 7 billion people on our planet, most of whom do not know Jesus, the Son of God.  They are lost without Christ.  As we pray for the lost of our world, we are fulfilling this command from our Lord.

Day 20 – Will you pray for the mission teams of First Baptist to confront the lostness of the world?

Prayer is the foundation of all the work our Mission teams do each year.  It is impossible to accomplish anything of eternal value apart from the empowering work of the Holy Spirit.  Prayer teams are being formed now to till the soil, direct the planning and empower the missionaries to do God’s work.  Without prayer, we are not able to successfully ‘love our neighbor as ourself.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 10:25-37 (day four)

40 Days of Prayer – More Like Christ

What happens when we pray?  When we pray, we are not coming to God in order to change His mind or claim His blessing.  When we pray, we are entering into the presence of Almighty God.  The result of being in His presence is that we are changed.  There is no instance in scripture where a person came face to face with God and was not changed.  His majesty, His holiness, His awesome power was overwhelming.  When we enter into the presence of God, the focus of our life, the condition of our heart, the compassion of our soul becomes more like Christ.  Prayer reorients us to God and His purposes.

Day 14 – Pray for God to cause you to be more like Christ today.

Ask for God to prepare your heart, to sharpen your vision, and to give you the mind of Christ.  In the presence of God through prayer, your life will be forever changed.

Re: Verse reading – Luke 7:1-17 (day four)

40 Days of Prayer – The Prayer of Thanks

Day 7 – The Prayer of Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving Day…a national holiday that dates back to the 17th century.  The holiday was initiated to give thanks to God for the bountiful harvest He provided.  Giving thanks to God is a prayer.  Much of our modern day praying is made up of giving thanks to God and asking Him to provide something else for us.  Our practice of prayer seems to be centered on us.  Giving thanks to God is an important aspect of prayer.  This Thanksgiving Day, let’s give thanks to God for some of the more difficult blessings we may have had…endurance to be sustained in a very difficult task, comfort in the loss of a loved one, patience to deal with a stressful situation, or lessons learned in a period of suffering.  God is at work in every area of our lives…the ‘good’ blessings are just sometimes easier to recognize.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Focus your thanks on what God has done instead of what we have received.

Re: Verse reading–Luke 5:12-26.

False Teachers

Re: Verse reading–2 Peter 1:16-21; 2:1-3; 3:1-18 (day four)
How relevant is Scripture?  As we read Peter, it is as if we are reading the daily news.  2:1 says, “False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.”  We do not have to look very far to see the truth of this statement!  Peter says they will secretly introduce their heresies…that means they are deceptive…catching us unaware (Satan is the father of lies.).  We find false teachers in pulpits, on the radio, on the TV, writing popular books, and anywhere they can gain influence for profit.  Peter exhorts us to remember the whole picture…to remember the truth we have been taught, to encourage one another to stand firm in truth.  Scripture is our guide and discernment from the Holy Spirit is our tool.  Verse 17 says, “be on your guard, lest you fall from your own steadfastness.” Hold fast to the truth of God’s Word!

Stewards

Re: Verse reading–2 Peter 1:1-12 (day four)
It almost sounds like we can work our way into salvation.  Remember though, Peter is writing to believers.  Verse 4 says He (God) has already granted us His precious and magnificent promises.  What follows salvation is the process of sanctification.  We are to grow…mature…in these areas of faith:  moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.  Peter says these qualities will cause us to be both useful and fruitful to God.  The Christian life is anything but passive.  Peter admonishes us to be diligent in our pursuit of these Godly qualities.  We want to be useful to God…we want our lives to count for His kingdom.  God’s promises have been given and we are stewards of these valuable resources.  I was recently asked, “How do you think God wants you to steward the rest of your life?”   Excellent question!  Be diligent to be the very best steward of His amazing grace.

Humility

RE Verse reading–1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:1-11 (day four)
The devil is our adversary.  He is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  He is a formidable enemy, but he has been defeated already.  So how do we stand firm against him?  Verse 9 says, “But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”  Our response to the fiery ordeals, the suffering of our life, communicates fear and defeat or faith and triumph.  As a believer, we have the Spirit of glory and of God resting on us.  We can face suffering with a different perspective.  When God’s people suffer for being a Christian and submit to God in their suffering, He is glorified.  That is our goal in the Christian life…to bring glory to God.  Maybe we can’t see how our suffering can do that, but we have His promise that He is glorified in our humility.

Obedience…Our Way of Life

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 2:11-3:9 (Day Four)
Does the way we live our lives daily make a difference?  Absolutely!  If we are a believer, we are to follow the example of Christ.  In every experience…in every relationship…in every response of our life, we are to live to righteousness.  To those in authority over us, we are to submit; when we are reviled, we do not revile in return; if we are treated harshly, we are to endure it with patience.  When we live out the Gospel in our lives, others may glorify God in the day of visitation.  We are blessed when we live our lives in obedience to God, regardless of the circumstances or situations around us.  We are called to follow Christ’s example no matter what…in this, we find favor with God.  (Obedience is better than sacrifice!)  Favor with God is a good thing.  3:8 says, “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;…that you may inherit a blessing.”

Do Not Be Conformed

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:13-25; 2:1-10 (day four)
V. 14 – “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,”  Our ignorance was the period of our life when we were not under the purifying tutelage of the Holy Spirit.  Even after we have been called into a relationship of grace and obedience, we may still revert back to our conformity with the world and its philosophies.  How many of us have repeated thoughts or ideas as truth, when, in fact, they run contrary to scripture.  We heard the pithy thought from someone we deemed reliable or smart, and adopted it as our ‘wisdom’.  A good question to ask of any truth or statement would be, “where is this found in scripture?”  God is holy…a huge descriptive word of His character.  We are to be holy, just as He is holy.  Ask God to search your heart for any deceptive thought that may reside there and to cleanse it with the blood of Christ.

Enduring Promise

Re: Verse reading–1 Peter 1:1-12 (day four)
Peter writes of a living hope…through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  One of the greatest promises we have in scripture is also found in our passage this week.  Verse 4 says that our inheritance in heaven is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away.  The last phrase of verse 4 says, it is reserved in heaven for you…reserved…reserved and protected by the power of God through faith!  Our salvation is reserved, sealed, protected, and promised by the power of God.  In Baptist circles, we call this doctrine ‘once saved always saved.’  What a freeing promise!  We do not have to earn our salvation…our living hope…every day.  We cannot lose our salvation.  We receive it through the work of Jesus by faith and it is protected by the power of God.  Romans 8:39 says, “nothing can separate us from the love of God.”  Thank you God for this enduring promise!