Prayer Points » PWOC International Blog

One Nation Under God

May 182012

The 61st National Day of Prayer for our Nation was a time to reflect and ponder the grace of God. Our Founding Fathers recognized that God had enabled them to do the call that was placed upon their life to establish a Nation with freedom of religion and other liberties for the people and by the people. The theme for 2012 was ‘One Nation Under God’ with a scripture focus on Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (NKJV). Upon reading this verse, it is noteworthy to mention the following verse, “The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”(NKJV)

In the past, there have been many debates and commentary about the United States of America as a nation favored by God. Many debates and discussions will continue on this thought; however scripture supports that God can use any nation for His plans and His purpose. Psalm 47: 2 states “For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth” (NKJV). God is the sovereign creator and ruler over all the earth and all nations are under Him. I believe God has bestowed great favor upon our Nation. There is no other country that compares to the opportunities provided for people of all backgrounds, creed or color.

As a people, we seek His blessings; however, do we seek His counsel? To seek His counsel, we have to seek His heart. To seek His heart, we have to humble ourselves and turn from those things in our life that hinder our relationship with Him. As His people, do we have an understanding of our inheritance with the Lord Jesus Christ ? The infallible word of God has remained through the ages as His law of righteousness and justice. (Psalm 19: 7-11) Along with personal reflection, pray for our governmental leaders, our military and our nation’s citizens. May His grace and mercy continue to be upon our land.

“The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations “, (Psalm 33:11 NKJV).

Rhonda Mixon

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Celebrate the Compassion of Mothering

Prayer Points

May 122012

Mother’s Day is an acknowledgement of a designated time to honor our Mother. Mothers are vessels of God to be givers of life. None of us arrive in this world without a mother; however, the picture of mothering may take on many different facets. Consider the birth of Moses who was born in a time when Pharaoh of Egypt commanded that ‘sons should be cast in the river’ (Exodus 1:22). Compassion of mothering began for Moses when the midwives feared God more than Pharaoh and refused to follow this directive. Moses’ own mother, Jochebed, hid him for three months and then came to a heart renching place of decision. Compassion for his life ruled as she cast him off the river bank in a constructed basket entrusting her confidence in God to preserve his life. Later discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, scripture notes ‘So she had compassion on him’ (Exodus 2:6) and provided a nurse maid from the Hebrew women. The story continues with the Pharaoh’s daughter providing the name Moses and raising him as her son. The man who was destined to be used by God to lead a nation of people out of bondage was mothered by many with a heart of compassion. This is a beautiful picture of many facets of mothering.

It is certain that Moses’ life was covered by the prayers and compassion of several spiritual mothers along with his own birth mother. God is the giver of life and the spirit of compassion. It is difficult to imagine compassion existing without prayer. As women, we need to recognize this special gifting from God to mother in ways that we may not have considered. Our prayers of compassion can touch the lives of many. Be thankful and reflect upon those women in your life that made an investment in you with their time and compassionate prayers. The ability to be a spiritual mother is achieved only by being in God’s word and developing a strong prayer life. Then purpose to ask God to show you how you can be a ‘Spiritual Mom’ to many. Our destiny is to bless others and to partner with God. May today be a celebration of the compassion of mothering as a gift from God.

‘How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!’ (Matthew 23:37b NKJV)

By Rhonda Mixon

In memoriam (May 4, 2012) of my ‘Aunt Dean’ who was a compassionate spiritual Mother.

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Our Connection With Christ

Prayer Points

May 042012

You know the saying “running around like a chicken with its head cut off?” When a chicken loses its head it does run around frantically, then simply collapses. It can be looked upon as like a prayerless Christian. We were born to stay connected to the Lord through prayer. Without His headship, our frantic efforts to look effective will drop lifelessly to the ground. Prayer is connecting our body with the Head of Jesus Christ. You can’t persevere in great things for God until you connect with Him in prayer. Philippians 2:5 says,” Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” He will give us his mind if we diligently press in to his presence in prayer. That way there is no longer you, but Christ in you who is praying.

When you have the mind of Christ you don’t have to strive to hear his voice-it just flows. If you feel like you have a blockage you may identify with Job who said, “if only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling” (Job 23:3).

Nothing prevents us from finding him and dwelling in his presence more that a stronghold of unbelief. Many of the people Moses led out of Egypt did not enter into the promised Land because they had a spirit of unbelief Hebrew 3:19 says, “Because of their unbelief they were not able to enter His rest.” When we pick and choose which parts of the Bible we will believe, we give the spirit of unbelief an opportunity to create a stronghold that destroys our ability to have intimacy. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to create a hunger in us for more of God-then get ready to be satisfied. Ask Him to guide your time in prayer; for the Lord has promised that he will. For he says, “But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” John 14:26.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you fall more in love with Jesus; he will not disappoint you.

Blessings my friends,

Jane Ahl

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Walking In His Ways

Prayer Points

Apr 202012

David was a man after God’s heart. When they appointed David King of Israel, he wanted to bring the ark back and place it in the city of Jerusalem. He wanted God to be placed first in their lives. Not just in their personal lives but in the market place where political decisions were made, financial decisions and yes, family decisions were made as well . When he went to get the ark, he tried to bring it back the way he thought would work, which was on a cart. He was going to drive the cart back to Jerusalem but it fell off the cart. David got mad and left, leaving the ark where it fell. Then he realized that he had tried to do it man’s way and not the Lord’s way. David then went back a 2nd time(1 Chron 15) and placed the ark on the shoulders of humanity and they carried it into Jerusalem for the people to be able to come and worship the Lord. That was because the Spirit of the Lord (the ark) sat between the Mercy Seat and the Cherubim. David did not want to be king without the presence of God in his life and he wanted everyone to have access to the Lord.

We need to realize that when we try to do things on our own, they will fall apart. Our ways can fall off the cart when the Lord is not in our plans. But when we come to worship our Lord and seek his face; then we can understand His thoughts and ways and we can climb higher with having the Mind of Christ to lead us in the paths of righteousness and our plans will succeed. Its imperative that we seek God’s face first so that when we do obey, it will be according to God’s will and not our will.

Scripture says in Mathew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” As we seek God and walk in His ways we will always have the victory in the ways the Lord has called us to walk things out in our lives. I challenge you to daily seek Him. He will never let you down. He is always there. God will never leave you nor forsake you.

Heavenly Father I thank you that we can come boldly to Your throne of Grace. Thank you Jesus that you are the door to enter in to the place of authority that we have a right to stand in. I thank you that as we seek you, we will find you and we will be directed in Your ways.

In Jesus’ Name, AMEN

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Thank God For Prayers Not Answered

Prayer Points

Apr 072012

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15, NIV)

Have you ever said, “Thank you, Lord, for not answering that prayer!”Have you ever been thankful for those prayers you prayed that were not answered in just the way you had hoped for? Recently I was looking through some of my prayer requests from the past and I began to give God thanks and praise Him for not answering certain prayers in the way I wanted. He answered in ways that I could not imagine. Ephesians 3:20 says He is able to do far more than we can think or imagine. This verse rang loud and clear as I looked at my pray list. One particular request jumped out at me that I knew God had answered a totally different way than I had prayed. I thought I was praying His will and it seemed I was praying according to His will. After praying for months and having others pray with me, the situation just seemed to worsen. I felt as those God was not hearing me at all. I realized that perhaps I wasn’t praying according to His will. Perhaps God had a different plan and it would be something that I could not think or imagine. My prayer partners and I started praying that the truth would be brought to light and the truth would set all free and that God’s perfect will would be done in the entire situation. This would mean I would have to trust God completely. I was not in charge here. After all, I could not see the big picture but God could. Within 2 weeks everything began to change, and for the better. God was working everything out for the good of all and in ways that I could not think or imagine. My plan that I thought was God’s plan would have been devastating! During this time I had to trust God completely. I could hear Him saying “I’ve got this!” He certainly did have it all under control. When we pray we must remember that He may have a better plan than we can imagine. Let’s ask Him to help us to pray according to His will.

Dear Lord,

We thank you that you answer our prayers. We thank you that you know our hearts and You know what’s best for us. Lord, help us to accept your will and trust you even when we don’t understand. Thank you for the prayers you’ve answered and for the prayers you haven’t answered because you knew a better way. In Jesus ’name, Amen.

Submitted by Kathy Walls

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Praying Together

Prayer Points

Mar 302012

Sometimes when we do not seem to get a breakthrough in what we are praying for, it is helpful to ask someone to pray with us, to come together in agreement and unity.

In Mathew 18:18-20, it says, ” That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” With someone agreeing with us in prayer, we can do 10 times as much as what we can do on our own.

Duet. 32:30 says, “How could one chase a thousand and two put 10,000 to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had surrendered them?” We see in this verse that one can chase a thousand but two can put 10,000 to flight. So with praying in agreement, we can do ten times as much as we can do by ourselves. This kind of unity is a powerful spiritual dynamic His presence exerts more power than we can imagine in our lives and in our circumstances. God is also with us as individuals, but our power increases as we come together in unity and agreement with Him. Because God’s blessings rests on unity and His presence is with those who agree in His name, the enemy works diligently to divide people to bring strife into relationships, to provoke and anger and jealousy, and to keep people at odds with each other. We need to understand the power of unity and agreement, and though we do need private times of intimate communion with God, we also need to exercise the power of praying in agreement with others. Jesus has promised that if two people on earth agree about something, God will bring it to pass (Matthew 18:19). The power of your agreement is so dynamic that you are going to break through – no doubt about it.

The prayer of true agreement is a strong and mighty force in the spiritual realm. The prayer of agreement is indeed a type of prayer that releases multiplied power, and praying this way will have tremendous results in your life.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We speak to our mountains and command them to be removed and cast them into the seas. I thank you Father that your word goes forth to perform that where we send it and that nothing is impossible with you.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Power and Wisdom

Prayer Points

Mar 162012

For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing(dying spiritually), but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart’…but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Cor. 1:18,19,24,25

Paul, as the author of I Corinthians, knew well the influences of the Roman empire and in addition, Corinth was a Greek city. Immorality and idolatry were rampant and God’s people needed correction. Sound familiar? As you read this letter, so many of Corinth’s characteristics are in our culture. As God’s people, how set apart are we? What influences of this culture are running havoc with your life, your marriage, your family.

These verses speak to two powerful words: power and wisdom. Beloveds, we must rid ourselves of cultural thinking, and put on the Kingdom thinking. Look for the Kingdom every day. Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit power each and every day, and if you lack wisdom, if you cannot make good decisions for yourself and your family, ask God to give you wisdom that only He can give.

Lets pray: Revive us, O Lord. Show us the ways in which we have failed to live according to your Word. We ask Lord, for a fresh filling of your Holy Spirit and wisdom, not as the world gives, but only the wisdom that comes from You and The Word. In Jesus name, Amen.

Carleene Myer

Titus 2/ PWOC-I

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Listen, Obey, and Go?

Prayer Points

Mar 102012

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 1 Peter 3:12

Last spring the Lord spoke to go to my native home of Nicaragua, which I hadn’t visited in over 14 years.

“Lord, I have a nursing infant. My military husband is here today and gone tomorrow. Summer break is fast approaching. I’m serving you on many levels of ministry and giving my best. This couldn’t be an ideal time” I protested.

Matthew 19:26 came to mind so I petitioned him for: my husband’s support, his leave to be approved and an inexpensive airfare.

God answered “yes” because my husband supported my trip, his leave was approved and I purchased a decent airfare. But the reality of my estranged relationship with my father who stilled lived in Nicaragua with his 40 plus years of alcoholism surfaced like a full force moving train. What was God up to?

The only “Father/Daughter” relationship I’ve known is with my heavenly Father. In spite never seeing GOD face to face with my natural eyes, I have felt His undeniable presence. He’s always met my needs (Ephesian 1:9) according to HIS will (not mine), and I know he loves me (Jeremiah 31:3). He desires to give me good/perfected things (James 1:17). Whatever God was up to was for my good!

Right before arriving Nicaragua, my father was no longer an alcoholic. GOD’s perfected timing allowed me to be in Nicaragua for his emergency operation. There were challenges and equal God moments but the ultimate outcome was that my earthly Father and I started working on restoring our relationship because of this trip.

Is this your season where God is asking “Listen, Obey and GO?” Sisters, be encouraged! GOD is in the business of building our faith, working wonders, and restoration when we let him!

When we purposefully:

1) Spend time in prayer, GOD SPEAKS! He will answers yes, no or wait.

2) Petition him and attentively long to hear him, we move his heart. Seek intimacy then walk in Godly confidence.

3) Obey and step out in faith, His faithfulness shines. Immediate obedience matures our faith.

4) Lock eyes on Him, his sovereignty/glory is revealed. He knows what He’s doing and it’s always best.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be women whom spend time in prayer, petition and attentively long to hear you, obey and step out in faith immediately and lock our eyes on you. At times it can be difficult. We want to be women whom move your heart because of our righteousness and love for you! In Jesus Christ, Amen!

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The Body of Christ: One Body/Many Parts

Prayer Points

Mar 022012

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” (Romans 12:1, 4-6a, NIV)

God’s creation of the human body so intricately designed with its many parts and functions is compared to the body of Christ which is also made up of many parts and functions. Those parts being us, His children saved by grace, and those functions being the gifts that we bring according to the grace given us. God tells us in His Word that we do not all have the same function. Our human bodies were created in such a way to meet every need we have. God created us to not only function in our earthly bodies, but He created us to participate with Him as part of the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says that we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. God has work for all of us to do. Just as our human bodies are detailed, so is the body of Christ. There are many, many functions and many different areas to serve and contribute in the body of Christ. He has work for all of us to do. The ways we can serve are innumerable. Having a desire to please Him and a heart of obedience is the beginning. Many times the Lord is using us when we may not even think we’re doing anything. He wants us to be available to lift up the body of Christ from the smallest detail to the largest. We must not forget that many times the larger tasks are dependent upon the smaller tasks. To God every function is important. For example, without the index finger functioning, the rest of the body will suffer. Our responsibility as the body of Christ is to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds and encourage and serve with the other members of the body of Christ in order that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be glorified!

Our heavenly Father, We thank you for creating us to function! Praise you for the body of Christ! Help us, your children, to do whatever you call us to do. As we pray, may you reveal to us our function in the body of Christ, to be the women of God you have called us to be. May you be glorified in it all! In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Kathy Walls

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What is Prayer?

Prayer Points

Feb 252012

James 5:16 tells us the earnest heartfelt, continued prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available-dynamic in its working. Prayer is fellowshipping with the father. It is a vital, personal contact with God, who is more than enough. 1Peter 3:12 for the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous-those who are upright and in right standing with God-and His ears are attentive (open) to their prayer. Prayer is not to be a religious form with no power. It is to be effective and accurate and bring results. God watches over His word to perform it ( Jer.1:12.) Prayer that brings results must be based on God’s word.

Hebrews 4:12-For the word that God speaks is alive and full of power-making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life and spirit, and of joints and marrow exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. so prayer is the” living” word in our mouths. Our mouths must speak forth faith, for faith is what pleases God. We hold his word up to him in prayer, and our Father sees Himself in His word. God’s word is our contact with Him. We put Him in remembrance of His word, placing a demand on his ability in the name of our Lord Jesus. We remind Him that He supplies all of our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That word does not return to Him void- without producing any effect, useless-but it shall accomplish that which He pleases and purposes, and it shall prosper in the thing for which He sent it. Praise the Lord. It takes someone to pray . God moves as we pray in faith-believing. He says that His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him.

Prayer must be the foundation of every Christian endeavor. Any failure is a prayer failure. So, I encourage you to seek the kingdom. Seek His face ladies. Be that prayer warrior that He has called all of us to be. the old saying “Got Milk?” Well, I ask you today, “Got Prayer?” It is and always will be the foundation and kingdom key to living in the kingdom.

Be Blessed my Sisters,

Submitted by: Jane Ahl

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PWOC International Blog

One Nation Under God

Celebrate the Compassion of Mothering

Our Connection With Christ

Walking In His Ways

Thank God For Prayers Not Answered

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Listen, Obey, and Go?

The Body of Christ: One Body/Many Parts

What is Prayer?

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