Author name: Tom Stuart

Thief scared off by prayer!

3 Comments / Answers to Prayer!, Overcoming, Prayer /

Several years ago the Lord gave me a very practical encouragement in this regard. It showed me that watching and praying really does fend off evil. And it illustrates the reality of the analogy Jesus used when He said “if the owner of the house had known at what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.” Matthew 24:43

A remarkable thing happened early Friday morning during our church’s week of prayer and fasting. (Bridgewood Community Church) We had scheduled 6 AM prayer meetings at the church each morning that week and I was on my way there when I received a cell phone call from the church’s security company. The caller informed me that a door had been opened in the building and it was setting off the alarm since no security code had been entered. Since I was just minutes away I told her I would be there shortly and check things out. I assumed someone coming to the prayer meeting had arrived at the church, had a key but perhaps did not enter the code correctly.

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Glorifying God in an April Snowstorm

3 Comments / Overcoming /

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech.” Psalm 19:1-2

This morning here in Twin Cities (Minnesota) we all woke up to a mid-April snow storm dumping 4-6 inches of snow and regrettably extending an already interminable winter. When I went outside between 6 and 7 AM to put out our trash receptacle, the visibility was blizzard like and it took some effort to wrestle the container, wheels and all, through the snow to the curb. I was grumbling and complaining to myself and to the Lord, and vowing that no matter what, I was done shoveling for the year and absolutely would not lift a finger to get rid of the snow in my driveway. Leave it to nature for it to eventually melt away! I have had it!

As I was walking back to the garage shaking my head with incredulity and listening to the crunch of snow under my feet I suddenly noticed another sound. It caught me off guard because it seemed so incongruous with the blizzard like conditions. It was the sound of a bird singing. Somewhere in one of my trees there was some crazy bird singing his little heart out in joyful song.

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Perfectly Positioned for Prayer

5 Comments / Prayer /

In the preceding blog post I shared several compelling reasons for actively engaging our bodies as we pray. While such actions as kneeling, bowing and lifting hands are commonly recognized as expressive forms of prayer, it has been my personal experience and observation that many people do not incorporate them into their daily practice of prayer.

Recently I have been experiencing a personal renewal in prayer and have been intentional about loving God in prayer “with all my heart, soul, mind and strength (body).”

The following is a summary of the things I am learning about each prayer posture. Hopefully it will stir a hunger in you to give them a try. So here are the 7 main ways, recorded in the Bible that people, including Jesus, prayed.

1. Kneeling – This position expresses a reverence for God and seriousness of intent by the person praying. It is probably one of the most common ways people prayed and a key posture that can be used in focusing our petitions. Solomon knelt for a long period time with arms outstretched as he prayed his great prayer dedicating the temple. When he finished, fire fell from heaven. (2 Chronicles 6:13) Daniel knelt and prayed three times a day and we know the amazing results he experienced. (Daniel 6:10)

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Positioning yourself for effective prayer

2 Comments / Prayer /

Probably the most common struggle that people have in attempting a focused, sustained and meaningful prayer time is dealing with distractions associated with a wandering mind. Throughout the ages, one of the great secrets for engaging in effective prayer has been connected to the position a person chooses to assume while praying. By position I mean the posture or attitude our body takes while we communicate our innermost thoughts through prayer to God.
While we commune with God out of our spirit through both words and sighs too deep for words, there is also an important role our bodies can and should play in expressing our prayers. In a very real sense this is a tangible expression of loving the Lord our God through prayer “with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (body).”
The more that prayer can engage the entirety of who we are, spirit, soul and body, the more focused and engaged we will be – and in the end the more effective our prayer times will be. When we exercise our body by taking appropriate prayer positions as we express our hearts to Him, we are making our body, His temple, a holy habitation of worship for His glory and praise.

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Two ways to be a house of prayer for all nations

2 Comments / Prayer /

And He was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Mark 11:17

What did Jesus mean when He said “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations”? This is a most critical question. If as Jesus’ teachings and the New Testament indicate, that His “house” over which He is the head is “the church which is His body,” then the church must be sure to make it a priority to be about that which He has called it to be. (Ephesians 1:22-23 & 1Timothy 3:15)

In order to understand this mandate for the church more clearly we must look at the context in which Jesus said this and specifically what He meant by the phrase “for all nations.”

This call for the church to be a house of prayer is recorded four separate places in the Scriptures: three times in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17 & Luke 19:46) and once in the quote to which Jesus is referring, when He says “is it not written”, in Isaiah 56:7.

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