Between Monday and Sunday

The 40/40 Prayer Vigil consists of 40 days of prayer from September 24 to November 2, 2008, culminating in 40 hours of around the clock intercession during the last 3 days of the Vigil. The Vigil focuses first on personal spiritual revival. It then covers an expanding circle of prayer concerns, from the church to the nation. For more information and to download a Free Prayer Guide for either the 40 days or 40 hours are here .

I'm not sure where you stand on this issue. Anointing with oil is not part of my normal practice. Bruce Grubbs, the senior pastor at the church where I serve part-time on staff ( Gladeville Baptist ) does this on a regular basis and I think it's very cool. I posted a new article on this subject by Pastor Harold Dinsmore in the Pastors Area of LifeWay.com. Pastor Dinsmore believes we are missing a great opportunity if we don't choose to offer the anointing of oil when we pray for the sick. He offers his reasoning as well as five things to consider should you choose to do this. Read Should We Anoint the Sick with Oil Today?

We're planning to take part of each of our three morning worship services tomorrow to thank God for our Mother's. This is what I am planning to share before we offer a prayer of thanks and blessing for moms. The book of Proverbs has great wisdom for every one of us. It is the Word of God and the wisdom from God for our lives. When these Proverbs were first written, they were intended as guides for young men who need wisdom and knowledge and training especially when it comes to women. Proverbs 31 is written to young men trying to help them understand the qualities in a woman that are the most valuable and The Message Paraphrase of Proverbs 31:10 says, "A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds." (The Message) But how do we measure the value of a mother? Are you wondering what mom should be paid for her work as mom? Salary.com has valuated the "mom job" of both the Working and Stay-at-Home Moms! Based on a survey of more than 18,000 mother...

I love that I get to share wonderful materials that other pastors have used in their churches. In early December 2007 I posted a complimentary download, " Praying Like Jesus: 10 Brief Studies in Prayer " by Rick Ezell. These were very popular so Rick sent another series called, " Prayer that Changed History: 7 Brief Studies of Prayer in the Early Church ." These simple, one-page studies on prayer are ideal for a Wednesday evening, Sunday evening, or other time when you lead a less formal Bible study time. Here are the titles: The Indispensable and Distinguishing Feature (Acts 2:42) Prayer Brings God to Us (Acts 4:24) Prayer Changes Us (Acts 4:13) Prayer Unleashes the Power of God (Acts 4:31) Prayer Prepares Us to Share Our Faith Boldly (Acts 4:31) What Happens When A Church Prays? (Acts 12:5) The Prayer Force (Acts 6:1-4) Access " Prayer that Changed History: 7 Brief Studies of Prayer in the Early Church " now...

Pastor, I know it was not an accident that I was on week 12 of Disciple's Prayer Life by T.W. Hunt and Catherine Walker this week. December 2-9, 2007 is the Week of Prayer for International Missions (learn more at pastor.imb.org ). Throughout this chapter, I've been learning new things about praying for Missionaries. What helped me most was something that Hunt and Walker call "The Apostle Paul's A - F Prayer Requests for Missionaries." It's a handy guide to topics you can pray for as you lift up missionaries to the Lord. Here are the basics. Pray for ... A cceptance by coworkers - other believers (Rom. 15:31b) B oldness in witnessing (Eph. 6:19) C larity in communicating (Col. 4:4) D eliverance from evil (Rom. 15:31a) E xtension of the ministry (Col. 4:2-3) F ruitfulness in spiritual endeavors (2 Thess. 3:1) Hunt and Walker have a whole week dedicated to learning about this as well as a Prayer Guide with more like the "A-F." I've posted Prayer G...

The survey asked SBC pastors, Protestant pastors and laity their beliefs about private prayer language using this wording: "Do you believe that the Holy Spirit gives some people the gift of a special language to pray to God privately? Some people refer to this as a Private Prayer Language or the 'private use of tongues.'" You may view a longer article on lifeway.com here but I was especially interested in the responses from pastors ... Fifty percent of Southern Baptist pastors answered "Yes," 43 percent said "No," and 7 percent responded "Don't know." Non-SBC pastors are more likely to believe that the Holy Spirit gives some people a private prayer language than Southern Baptist pastors. Sixty-six percent of non-SBC pastors responded "Yes," 32 percent responded "No," and 3 percent responded "Don't know." Protestant pastors (Southern Baptists and non-SBC) are more likely to believe the Holy Spirit giv...

I've struggled this week with how to help you all as you minister to your church family in light of the terrible tragedy that has hit our nation. I've pulled together articles, worship readings, prayer guides, and images you may use to help your church family deal with the tragic events and mobilize prayer support and other support that God may lead you to. Virginia Tech Massacre, Resources for Church Leaders

This is a prayer request from the campus minister at Virginia Tech. Join me in lifting up these concerns before God... We have been overwhelmed by the support and prayers of our campus ministry family around the nation. Thank you for the emails, calls, and prayers. We obviously can’t respond to them all right now, but know that they have been a huge encouragement. We are doing all we can here to help students walk through the first steps of grief. Here are some prayer requests… Pray for the students as names are released today and the reality of connections and relationships bring the grief to another level. Pray for the family of Brian, a grad student in our ministry who was killed yesterday. Pray for our alumni and students that were close to Brian as well. Praise for a gathering of 300 plus students here last night to pray and begin to walk through the grief process. Pray for wisdom for our staff (Laura, Mark, Leah, Susan) and student leaders in all the opportunities that will ...