Michigan Camp Meeting 2019: As a Witness, Matthew 24:14

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Going ABOVE and BEYOND

Melody Mason

Daring to Ask for More - Part 1

Daring to Ask for More - Part 2

Daring to Ask for More - Part 3

Daring to Ask for More - Part 4

Daring to Ask for More - Part 5

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day.

This is Wednesday, and it seems like time is going very quickly, but Father, we just pray that you'll help us to gain what you have for us today, to absorb what you would like us to retain today.

And Father, we're praying especially for your Holy Spirit to fill this place.

You promise when 2 or more are gathered together that you're in their midst, and we are here gathering together, Father, seeking a deeper experience with you, especially as it relates to prayer.

So Father, bless our time together today and fill us with your Spirit, we pray in your precious name, Amen.

So I shared that in the seminar we're going to have some practical experience just to not only draw us closer together and have some time in prayer, but also just to demonstrate when you go back to your own church groups or even your family group or whatever, ways that you can come together and pray.

And some of you may have experienced this already and hopefully so, but I'm going to be focusing specifically on United Prayer today and how to come together in unity in prayer.

Before I share what we're going to do, I just want to read a couple thoughts to you.

I assume you probably already have the Praying for Rain booklet.

If you don't, we want to make sure you get copies.

There's some out there and I'll have some up here as well.

But this is really a handbook to help you start small United Prayer groups.

It has a lot of inspiration, a lot of Bible promises, things along that line.

But I'm looking here in the beginning, why should we have united prayer?

Of course we know the promise of Matthew 18, 19 and 20 that says, "...if 2 of you shall agree as touching anything that they ask, it shall be done for them.

Where 2 or more are gathered together, He is in their midst." so we know that.

Referring to that promise, Ellen White writes in the book of Evangelism, page 414, she says, "...precious promise.

What marvelous results would appear if the united prayers of this company were to ascend to God in living faith?

If we would really bind together, what would God do?

And here's something else that she writes in the book Fundamentals of Christian Education, page 210.

Brethren should stand shoulder to shoulder, uniting their prayers at the throne of grace, that they may move the arm of the omnipotent.

Heaven and earth will then closely be connected in the work, and there will be joy and gladness in the presence of the angels of God when the lost sheep is found and restored." So as I shared already yesterday, there is such a beauty and a power when God's people pray together.

And actually we're told the power of those prayers comes in relation to the unity and the love that there is within the group, 1 for another.

It's very hard to be united when there's discord, right?

When there's discord among you, you're not very united.

I tell people, don't wait until the discord's all taken together to come together and pray, because as we pray, God has a way of doing something in our hearts to heal that discord.

And I've seen this happen time and time again with churches that I've been at and shared this with, how you know we'll start and we'll be praying together and just people are overcome with conviction.

They need to go and make right wrong with so-and-so, somebody that's in the group, and they'll go and do that, and they'll hug each other and cry and pray together, and then it's like the prayer meeting doesn't want to end, people don't want to leave, because they can feel the Spirit of the Lord there, and God is going to work in His church and among His people if we will come together and uniting our hearts together in unity and prayer.

So, you know, there's many stories I could share and I'm not going to take a lot of time talking this morning because I really want to have some time today to pray and I'm going to demonstrate and you're all going to be part of this, you know, we're not just going to pretend, we're actually going to take time to pray, but it is going to be kind of a model and a sample for you as well.

But I'm gonna demonstrate 2 different types of prayer that I believe are a real blessing for groups.

This is not obviously, you know, like, oh, this is just what you need to do, and if you're not doing this, no, that's not it at all.

But this is just ways that we've found have been such a blessing, and especially even for young people and children that have a hard time getting involved, you know, because we adults tend to wax a little bit too eloquent.

And sometimes it's a struggle for others or maybe those that are a little timid and those that are a little bit more, you know, feeling like, I just don't know how to pray like they do.

So, you know, I can't, you know, and obviously God hears the heart even if you're not speaking, but we're seeking to create an atmosphere that all can be involved as the Holy Spirit convicts.

And I just say pray if the Holy Spirit convicts you, and if you don't, just pray in your heart.

But like I said, there's so many stories that I could share as we've had United Prayer Groups.

I remember 1 time there was a group praying, and it was a small group, and eyes were closed, and so people didn't really know whether people were coming or going, but towards the end as they were singing a song, it just sounded like a lot more people had joined because it was so beautiful.

But when they opened their eyes, they found that it was the same small group that they had started with.

The angels were actually singing with them.

And I believe I've heard that a number of times where we'd be together praying and singing, and it's just like, wow, that is just so amazing, the harmonies.

And I'm like, the angels must be singing with us.

I mean, God inhabits the praises of His people.

So we're going to demonstrate 2 different types of prayer.

1 is united prayer, we're going to just come together and all praise the Holy Spirit leads.

And another I call the circle of blessings.

And I didn't get that name from any place, any book, any idea, except for the fact that we're getting in a circle, we're surrounding each other, lifting up each other's arms.

Just like Aaron and her lifted up Moses and Aaron and her lifted up Moses's arms, I believe that we need to lift up each other's arms.

And before we are really gonna be strong, praying for the community out there and for the brokenness, I believe we need to see healing within our own camp, within our own families, within our own church.

And so that's why I encourage people start first by getting your small group and just taking turns praying for each 1.

You know what specifically, and there's some things that you can't share publicly and that's that's perfectly fine and I'm not asking, there are certain sensitive topics that we really should not ever share publicly.

But Ellen White does talk about the fact that there are many things that we need to confess and share, struggles that we have, pride, selfishness, all these different things, and especially these things that are publicly seen, we need to confess those things publicly and just be able to share, you know, I have a problem with pride and I'm struggling with that and I need you guys to pray for me.

I mean, that's a very appropriate thing to say, or I'm struggling with this or that and I need you guys to pray for me." And so that's what the circle of blessings is specifically for, is to surround each other and to lift each other's arms and just pray for 1 another.

And then as we become strong as a unit, then we begin attacking specific issues.

In other words, going to spiritual battle, per se, on behalf of those outside.

And those are your children, and those outside of the church, or backslidden members that you want to see come back into the church or you know you're praying for an evangelistic series or this or that and you're praying for specific goals.

I think it's very important as we pray as groups and individually as well that were very specific.

You can't hit a target that you don't aim for, right?

You don't really know if God, did God answer this or not?

You know, you were praying so general, you really don't know.

And so I encourage people, okay, so you're praying for your evangelistic series to go well.

What do you believe would be for God's glory in this?

Who are you praying specifically that will come to the series, or this or that?

Claim promises with those specific prayers.

As I've been talking all about, pray the Word of God.

And as I've shared earlier, I've put together prayers and promises on cards just to help people get into the habit and learn how to pray the Word of God.

But what's most meaningful is when you take those promises God has given you and you claim them on behalf of certain situations or things in your life and you just hold on to those promises because God's word doesn't change.

Circumstances change, our feelings change, the environment around us change, but impossible things to our human perspective are possible with God.

And so we need to claim those promises and just hold on.

And so go to battle on your knees as Bible study groups and home groups and church groups and just pray until you see the answers.

And then when you see the answers, record them and take note, kind of like as milestones along the journey.

You know, as I had those prayers collecting up in my jars, just seeing what God had done, I was so encouraged.

And my faith was like, look at what God has already done.

I know that he's answering my prayers, and so that was so encouraging for me.

Yeah, amazing fax booth that has a little booklet with them, where you can jot down your prayers and when they were answered.

A little booklet at the Amazing Facts booth that sounds like you can record prayers and then write down when they're answered.

So that's very, very encouraging for our faith.

Okay, I don't want to take too much time here.

Let me just take a couple more minutes to explain.

So when we have United Prayer, this is something I share, and there's a number of illustrations biblically where you can get the model for this, and a lot of this is written in this booklet, Praying for Rain.

You know, when we come to God, we tend to be very quick to give Him our burdens and our needs and all of that.

We don't need to apologize for these things.

But think about, and think about how you feel as well when people come to you and they constantly are asking, but they're never thanking, they're never praising, they're never adoring or loving.

Series

Going ABOVE and BEYOND

Daring to Ask for More - Part 3

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

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3. Growing an Above and Beyond Devotional Life

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To the Victor Goes the Spoils

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The Devil’s Cage Part 2

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Breakouts

3. The Statesman

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Emmanuel Training Sessions

13. How to Give Bible Studies- Part 3

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Prayer by Gem Castor

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P.R.A.Y. Like Never Before Part 1

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How To Study the Bible

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Power of the Hour

Wedding Disasters

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Keys to Successful Devotion

Keys to the Successful Devotion - Part 5: Personal Worship 2

57m

Mind Cure- Part 2

1h 38m

Sound Doctrine