these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. - Isaiah 56:7 It is written, he said to them, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers. - Matthew 21:13 And as he taught them, he said, Is it not written: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of robbers. - Mark 11:17 OCTOBER 1, 2017 It is written, he said to them, My house will be a house of prayer ; but you have made it a den of robbers. - Luke 19:46 Our Call to Pray Teachers share the following learning strategy with their students: Pay attention to words and phrases that REPEAT! When a phrase repeats, it s important! Today s scripture, My temple shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples is first found in Isaiah, then is repeated in three of the Gospels. We need to take these words to heart! You and I are God s temple and a house of prayer. 1 Cor. 3:16 says, Do you not know that you are God s temple and that God s Spirit dwells in you? In Isaiah, God said His house would be a house of prayer and that those He brought there would be joyful. Matthew, Mark, and Luke reveal that the house of prayer had become polluted by greed and self. Jesus wanted the temple cleansed, the things that dishonored His Father chased out! As temples of God, we as believers are to cast out thoughts and motives that dishonor Him. We re a house of prayer only if loving and worshiping God is our first priority. Power in ministry is preceded by prayer. REALITY CHECK: Am I praying? Am I praying for all peoples, or are my prayers about me, myself, and mine? What motives and thoughts need to be cast out of my mind and heart? What in me needs to be cleansed?
OCTOBER 2, 2017 The Lamb Chop School of Evangelizing You win over people just like you win over a dog. You see a dog passing down the street with an old bone in his mouth. You don t grab the bone from him and tell him it s not good for him. He ll growl at you. It s the only thing he has. But you throw a big fat lamb chop down in front of him, and he s going to drop that bone and pick up the lamb chop, his tail wagging to beat the band. And you ve got a friend. Instead of going around grabbing bones from people, I m going to show them some lamb chops. Something with real meat and life in it. I m going to tell them about New Beginnings. - David Wilkerson We come across all kinds of people as we go about our days. People who have the same values, and those who don t. People who love to speak of what the Lord is doing in their lives, and those who get angry if we do. How we view others largely determines whether or not we take the opportunities God has prepared for us to speak of Him. We don t win and influence people by criticizing them or by telling them what they are doing is wrong. That would be like jerking a dog s used-up, chewed up bone away from him. We DO influence people by loving them and giving them a replacement lamb chop for the bone sharing truths with life-giving meat on them. Truths of how much God loves them, how He wants a relationship with them, and how powerful He is. What is a truth (lamb chop) that has impacted your life? How has this truth affected your life? To accept this truth, did you have to discard a belief that was an untruth? What was it? How can this truth make a difference in the lives of others? Is there a way to share this truth that doesn t sound churchy, yet doesn t water down its life-changing power? OCTOBER 3, 2017 Doubt and Prayer Life How does Doubt impact my prayer life? When I doubt God s power and authority When I doubt God s love When I doubt God s resources When I doubt God s promises
OCTOBER 3, 2017 Doubt and Prayer Life Continued When I DOUBT I don t pray. At this point, you may be thinking that I m way off base. You may be thinking, I have faith in God! I don t have doubts! But let s look at three of God s promises. If I FULLY believed these promises, would I pray more? You betcha! Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. - Matt. 7:7 And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." - Matt. 21:22 And My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14 I m stepping on my own toes here. When my prayer life is a desert, my focus is me, my hurts, or my fears. When I don t pray for the nation, it s because I can t wrap my brain around the truth that God is powerful enough to turn us around. I must admit that doubt and unbelief sometimes stop me from praying. I also admit that somehow I often turn things around to be all about me when it s actually all about God! God is FAITHFUL to do what He promises. Our angry and hurting world needs Him to intervene, to heal, to convict, to reveal Himself. Why aren t we praying more often and more earnestly? Something to Think About: God calls EVERYONE to pray. A weak prayer life could be symptomatic of doubts or unbelief in God s promises. It could be a lack of faith that God has the power, resources, wisdom, and authority to make It happen. His prescribed path for revealing Himself is PRAYER. Search out doubt and go to God with it. Let God help you lay replace unbelief with faith. We are ALL called to pray. Lord, fill us. Reveal who You are, Your purposes, and Your ways! OCTOBER 4, 2017 You Shall Receive POWER for Mission Have you ever wished you were a more effective witness? I have! Many of us have obstacles which get in the way of effective and powerful witnessing. No matter what we do, we don t see the results we long for. What is God s plan for making us powerful witnesses? The Lord wants all believers to receive power from on High--power to witness and to live. God s plan is for the Holy Spirit to take us out of our plans and put us into His plan. He will change us and give us the mind of Christ. Someone has said we re no good until we have our I knocked out. The Holy Spirit LIVES in us the moment we accept Christ as Savior and Lord. He EMPOWERS us when we are yielded to Him, allowing Him to cleanse us and direct all aspects of our lives.
OCTOBER 4, 2017 You Shall Receive POWER for Mission Continued God s Plan: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." - Acts 1:8 (Read also, Luke 24:46-52) God s plan is NOT to commission us to make disciples using our charisma or a polished, scripted plan. God s plan IS to send out as believers who love Him and praise Him for who He is and for what He does. His plan is for the Holy Spirit to empower us. As we share what we have seen, heard and experienced, the Holy Spirit takes our words and God s love and makes it real to those who don t know Him. Do you want the Spirit s empowerment? Spend time with God by yourself and with others praising Him, seeking Him, listening to Him with the intent to obey. Let Him cleanse you. Wait on Him. The Holy Spirit will guide you. Make yourself available to be used by God. Rely on the Holy Spirit to do the work of bringing others to God. Focus on GOD, not your ability or inability. It s not about us; it s about God! When we ask and wait for the Holy Spirit s empowerment, things happen! OCTOBER 5, 2017 Fall Festival on Sunday, October 29th from 3-6 pm Planning for this year s Fall Festival was initiated quite a while ago, possibly right after last year s event! Public service agencies are booked to provide demonstrations and public service information. Participating agencies include the H.C. Fire Department, H.C. Police Department, H.C. Paramedics, Polk County Fire Department, and the Polk County Sheriff Department. Their willingness to participate in our event is a BLESSING! Food vendors are booked. They give NorthRidge a love offering from their profits, which helps defray some of the costs of the event. Inflatables are booked. Decisions have been made as to who will refresh the games, making sure all parts are ready for action. We are very thankful for those working hard to get things ready for the remainder of us on The Day! Intentionality for readiness in mission needs to be as high a priority as planning the event. We covet prayers for the planning and preparation for the Fall Festival. Please pray for those doing the planning that they place a priority on having a strong relationship with the Lord, and that their interactions reflect their love for the Lord. Whenever people work together, there are opportunities to put into practice doing relationships God s way! Please pray that all decisions are bathed in prayer. Please pray that God is preparing NR believers to work in the Fall Festival, empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission. Pray for Rebecca Bryan as she recruits workers. Please pray that all resources necessary for putting on the Fall Festival are provided. Please ask God to prepare hearts of those He will draw to the Fall Festival that many will receive Him; that many will draw one step closer to Him.
OCTOBER 6, 2017 Eternity Try-Outs: Thursday, 11/2/17 [7:00-10:30 pm] Rehearsals: Friday, 11/3/17 [7:00-9:00 pm] & Saturday, 11/4/17 [9:00 Noon, 1:00 4:00] Productions: Sat., 11/4/17 Wed., 11/8/17 [7:00-9:00 pm] Look at the schedule for Eternity with me. Try-outs on Thursday, rehearsals Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon and the first performance that same Saturday from 7:00-9:00!!! How in the world can a complete cast be ready to perform after only three rehearsals? I m thinking that it s the Lord s empowering! The director of Eternity lives in New York. Prior to his arrival, a crew will create a stage for the production at the front of the sanctuary. Try-outs, held in the sanctuary, are open to NorthRidge members and regular attenders. Rehearsals are intensive. Amazingly, the production is ready to go by Saturday evening! Again, your prayers for this outreach event are coveted. Please pray for the people God is preparing to portray characters in the production. Pray for Robbie Pierce, who will portray Christ. Pray that Robbie s relationship with the Lord continues to grow stronger each day. Pray for the man God is preparing to portray Satan. Pray for the Lord s covering and protection to shield him from attack. Pray that he puts on the armor of God daily and has a strong relationship with the Lord. Please pray for God to stir the hearts of our church body to supply laborers: workers to build / tear down the set, workers to prepare meals on production nights, people who will work with costumes, actors, tech and sound workers, and more. OCTOBER 7, 2017 NorthRidge Church Prayer Room NorthRidge Church s Prayer Room is located to the left of the doors leading to the office. It s available for you to come and pray 24/7. The Prayer Room has boards where you can post prayer requests for our nation, personal prayer requests, The Church, salvations, and the Ridge. You re invited to post prayer requests of your own or pray for others! The board for The Church is wider than the others because The Church s health is key for change in our nation, in our personal lives, for salvations, and for the Ridge! We need to pray beyond NorthRidge for the Church! Here are two specific ways we will use the Prayer Room to help us follow through after the Fall Festival and Eternity
OCTOBER 7, 2017 NorthRidge Church Prayer Room Continued Prayer Requests: One way we love on our community at the Fall Festival is to let them know we will pray for them if they share a need. They write their request on a card and we post them in the Prayer Room for one year. We don t know these people, but God Does. He promises to work in their lives if we pray. My desire is to pray for them so often that their name becomes family to me --that if I met them somewhere around town, I could say, I KNOW you! Salvations: Prior to Eternity, there will be several Prayer Meetings prefaced with a message about prayer from one of our pastors. We will write names of those who need salvation on cards and pray for these names! After Eternity, these names will be posted in the Prayer Room so we can continue praying throughout the year. We want to keep praying until God has completed His work!