Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Daily Prayer The Power of Petition

A Paper Submitted to Dr. Harold D. Bryant In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Course Spiritual Factors of Church Growth Evan 500-D03 LUO

By Daniel S. Tomlinson 14 May 2011

Daily Prayer The Power of Petition Introduction This paper will analyze and critique the daily prayer assignment. As assigned, the essay will focus on the Christian experience of praying as it applied to my home church as well as a ministry effort that requires and focuses on prayer. Within this paper there will also be a reflection on the influence that the practice of prevailing prayer has had on the growth of the church and ministry effort. This essay will conclude with personal reflections on the effects of the instructions received in this class and the overarching impact that it has had own my spiritual life and personal ministry. Throughout the entirety of my attendance at Liberty University I have yet to attend a class that has not proven to be applicable and timely to the season of which my life was in. This class is no different and its timing illustrates the perfect timing of God and blessing that He issues to His people. Through my prayer journey there have been personal needs answered, protection issued, evil revealed, relationships strengthened and witnessing opportunities honored all for the Glory of God. From my understanding God desires for His people to rely on Him, exclusively, and the act of praying, in a disciplined manner, is the first act of reliance. My Journey My personal journey through this exercise began by outlining the obvious needs that would meet the requirement given to me within the boundaries of the instructions. It soon became obvious to me that God had different plans for the course and destination of this journey. Elmer Towns said that Worship is like a car to get us from where we are . . . to where God wants us to be.1 When I read this excerpt from Putting An End To Worship Wars I had no idea
1

Towns, Elmer L.. Putting an end to worship wars . Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997.

where this metaphoric car would take me. Its final destination would ultimately bring me to a place that would strengthen my faith in God and the importance of prayer. Previous to this assignment I had been approached to start a prayer meeting at work. The beginning of this meeting coincided with the beginning of this assignment so I immediately saw an opportunity to apply the learning steps of this class to the ministry that was kicking off at work. This appeared to be an easy obligation to fulfill the class requirements so my spirits were high as was my motivation. These ease that I expected was not fulfilled as I had expected and instead saw the ease of Gods power. The unexpected leg of this journey takes place at my church. A newly arrived ordained minister had arrived at our church as a member, not as staff. He had taken an immediately liking to me as we had many things in common. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Regents University, had been a teacher at a small Bible college and had experienced a recent church hurt as I had in the past year. We took an immediate liking to each other and he soon became a close friend. Prayer Request Prayer Meeting To understand the daily prayer requests that occurred during this exercise, it first must be understood the circumstances that surrounded the events in this journey. To start the prayer group at the company in which I worked, I understood that many people had conflicting schedules to keep and could only dedicate 15-25 minutes from their daily schedule. For this reason I set up a lunch time meeting that would occur each Thursday of the week. In the first week there were three people who attended and we began by praying that God would anoint this ministry effort to spread throughout the company and ultimately Glorify Him. Of these three

people, one was a new Christian that was on fire for God and was learning the practices and power of prayer. His name is Steve and he became my prayer partner as we went to the Lord together for daily for the growth and for the protection of the meeting and of those who attended. I also requested that the Lord grow and mature Steve to be a greater and stronger teacher and leader than me. Any time that I lead a ministry effort, whether it is as large as a youth group or as small as this prayer group, I am constantly weary of developing an ego or sense of pride that will eventually inhibit the work of the Lord. My fear comes from knowing my personal and prideful nature. Additionally, I am usually quick to anger when faced with extreme confrontation. Knowing these weaknesses that exist within me made extend an extra effort to petition the Lord for protection and deliverance from these sinful qualities. The Prayer group began to blossom and in 2 weeks we had grown the group to nearly twenty people. The group began to be a silent witness among the workplace. Soon people were unexpectedly showing up asking for prayer. The Holy Spirit was really moving among the company and it was obvious that the Lord was, and is, answering the prayers for growth and maturity. Towns states An extraordinary work of God should be distinguished from the more ordinary work of God in the life of the believer.2 The events and occurrences displayed His movement as obviously extraordinary. Popularity attracts attention and two weeks ago we found that the prayer group had attracted the attention of the legal and human resources team. As the two directors met with me and instructed me to stop this organized religious activity, I felt the Holy Spirit directing me away from the emotions of pride and anger that began stirring inside. Silently, I prayed for His
2

Towns, Elmer L., and Douglas Porter. The ten greatest revivals ever: from Pentecost to the present. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Vine Books, 2000.

guidance and, against my will, conceded to their wishes by meeting in the park across the street from our building. I also felt moved to comfort one of the directors as I sensed a struggle occurring inside of him. As soon as I left the meeting, I contacted my prayer partner Steve and prayed for guidance and a direction that would Glorify God. Within 30 minutes I was contacted by the legal director and was asked to continue our prayer meeting as normal. In the entirety of this event, the Lord has answered our requests to grow and keep the prayer group as a witness to the people of the company. I later found that the director that I sensed a struggle within has been fighting a spiritual battle of doubt and anger. God is still working on this man but I feel that the witness of our prayer group has had a role in his healing and growing. Deception The unexpected journey that occurred is very difficult to discuss but I feel that it must be included as it has been a point of prayer in this exercise. The new member of our church, in which I shared many common interests, began displaying inappropriate behavior to many of the women in our church, including my wife. Through extensive investigations it was found that his behavior had a long history and it was revealed that there existed 41 counts of sexual misconduct charged against him at some of the most prominent churches and learning institutions within the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Fortunately, God had seen fit to expose this behavior very quickly and the church did not suffer from it but, instead, learned from it. My church has experienced a phenomenal growth and, therefore, my daily prayer journal included the protection of the body. I see this to be attributed to agonizing in prayer and being in communion with God.3 God saw fit to met this need and bless His people. Praise God.
3

Towns, Elmer L.. Understanding the deeper life: a guide to Christian experience . Old Tappan, N.J.: F.H. Revell, 1988.

From this experience, and in the previous, God delivered me from prideful responses and emotional outbursts. The Lord answered my request for humility even when I did not know that I needed it. I have been experiencing may God moments lately and am no longer surprised by His movements but am continuously wowed by His power. Amen. Daily Prayer Time My daily prayer goal was to be in accordance with the one hour requirement to go to the Lord in prayer. To do this I set up a calendar reminder to occur every day at 2:00 P.M. My reasoning for choosing this time was because the down time that occurs at work allows for this time to be most available. This proved to be quite difficult to achieve in a regimented fashion. Because I was experiencing difficulties in achieving my goal I referred to Praying The Lords Prayer by Elmer Towns to provide guidance in this matter. In this book Towns points out to key instructions that aided me. These key points address effective short prayers throughout the day and establishing the most effective and least effective place to pray.4 By utilizing these key points of instruction I was able to create a discipline that allowed me to go to the Lord in numerous intervals throughout the day. I also found this to be advantageous to address needs, in prayer, as they appeared to me immediately. Also, I found that having a laundry list of prayer needs, requests, and topics to be routine. Using an interval prayer method allowed me to avoid the generalization of routine and be more invested in the topics of prayer. In regards to the locations of prayer, I initially believed that my office would be the most private place to establish prayer. I found this to be true but also found that utilizing an interval prayer method allowed me to pray in many places rather than relying on a place of solitude. Throughout the day, I actually enjoyed finding spontaneous locations of prayer.
4

Towns, Elmer L.. Praying the Lord's Prayer for spiritual breakthrough . Ventura, Calif., U.S.A.: Regal Books, 1997.

Fasting The purpose of fasting is to change the style of worship to widen social and interpersonal impact in our relationship with the Lord. Fasting loosens the bonds of sin, lifts burdens and releases the chains of oppression among other qualities. Fasting can inspire revival, provide divine intervention, and heighten spiritual awareness. The total act of fasting, however, is always to show, and prove, the glory of God and His desire and willingness to be associated with His believers in an intimately close relationship. Elmer Towns writes in his book Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough that through fasting and writing out specific bondages to break, that one strengthens the will, focuses energy to the problem, builds up anticipation to break the problem and increases faith in God to expect an answer.5 With these points in mind, I set forth with the following three objectives. First, I wanted to record the accomplishments of the fasts. Secondly, I wanted to record what I had learned about myself and God during these events. Lastly, I wanted to understand how I would practice fasting in the future. I had never fasted before and my expectations and state of mind were, I must admit, fearful. I have no explanation for the fear that I felt but I cannot deny that I was very apprehensive about embarking upon a fast. In both fasts my fears where ill placed. In entered these fasts as exploratory and to ask God to reveal the meaning and purposes of fasting to me in a spiritual form. Within my accomplishments I found that through my hunger, and suffering, that I did not focus on myself as I feared that I would. I, instead, focused more so on God. This gave me a great sense of peace and confidence. My hunger was an intense reminder to pray and to lean on
5

Towns, Elmer L.. Fasting for spiritual breakthrough: personal study guide . S.l.: Gospel Light, 1998.

the Lord.

Leaning on the Lord, I continuously find, is the desire of God when dealing with His

people. Proverbs 3:5 states Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Secondly, I wanted to understand what it was that I learned throughout my fasts. I found that I am extremely weak. In saying this I mean that I did not realize that I rely on myself as much as I did. I see this as a great weakness that I need to address. By looking at Proverbs 3:5 again, I see a great instruction in not relying on my own understanding. This speaks of a lack of faith in the Lord on my part but a willingness to change that. Thirdly, I wanted to get a better understanding of my future relationship and activity with fasting. From my experience I have established several future objectives. I will be more organized and developed in my approached to a fast. This means setting objectives, or milestones, within the fasting period. This will call for establishing a given period of fasting, a defined direction and a period of prayer preparation. Setting forth a preparation of prayer will ready my heart, mind and spirit for the activity that takes place within the fast.

Anointed Ministry Asking the Lord for His anointing upon my ministry has revealed two specific things. In his book Doing Church As A Team, William Cordeiro writes that God takes full-time ministers and disguises them as teachers.6 In this season of my life, God has called me to be a teacher among those that I work alongside and to those that I meet in my travels. Although I am a functional software analyst by trade I consider myself to be a full time pastor that has an abundant opportunity to minister to different people and cultures.
6

Cordeiro, William . Doing Church As a Team The Miracle of Teamwork and How It Transforms Churches.. Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books, 2009.

Gods anointing to my workplace ministry has been profoundly evident since our prayer team has started asking the Lord to work His Glory through these means. Through the workplace ministry God has healed peoples hurt, overcome fears of having to profess faith over employment, provided an uncountable number of witnessing opportunities and has spawned leadership and ministry efforts. A womens prayer group is now in the planning stage and I am praying the God will use this as an opening to His Word to many woman in the company for which I work. God has also shown His anointing on our church despite the recent issues that have surfaced within the members that was earlier discussed. Corporately, and personally, we have continued asked God to continue anointing His Body while providing a hedge of protection for His believers. Gods protection in this matter was an answered prayer and in this blessing His Glory must be recognized and revealed. Cordeiro states There is nothing more spectacular than seeing peoples dreams released and being used for the glory of God.7 Gods anointing is reflected in His people. The light of Christ is now visible among all of those involved in each of these experienced and faith has been strengthened. Blessings and trials can, and should be, viewed as an act of goodness and power among the Lord as we are His witnesses. The Lords Prayer Praying the Lords Prayer for 30 continuous days was a challenge. The challenge was repeating the Lords Prayer in a routine manner, something that I fear to do. Dr. Towns states that it may be needed to emphasize a different petition each time and day that this prayer is uttered.8 Through reading this excerpt I determined to take specific petitions and pray on it daily. This activity was an incredible experience and drew me closer to God. Two petitions are
7

Ibid, 97

10

specifically meaningful to me as it pertains to the issues that were faced during this exercise. First, the petition For thine is the power speaks to Gods ability to answer these requests and petitions that are brought before Him. Jeremiah 29:13 teaches that by seeking God with a full and pure heart that He will answer prayer. Towns writes Actually, an outstanding place to begin your meditation is on the creative power of God. You can see the fingerprints of God in the world He has created, however not everything about God is seen in creation.9 This benediction involves turning over, or releasing, needs and issues to the Lord and giving Him full control over the issues and, in effect, shows His fingerprints. Additionally, it is acknowledging that God reigns over all things and has the power to intercede. Towns wraps up this petition by saying that no matter how He answers, our response can only be, Thine is the power.10 Secondly, the petition delivers me from the evil one is meant to protect His people from physical and spiritual harm. Towns states that by reciting this petition we confess our belief in the four essential facts of the enemy. These facts are that the evil one does exist, that the evil one is in conflict with us as believers, that God is our sole deliverer, and that we can use the Lord s Prayer for deliverance. Utilizing this prayer is how a believer can adequately fight the efforts of the enemy. During the trials in which the evil one attempted to disrupt His Body, this petition was uttered to strictly target the efforts that were occurring. The outcome was that God provided for His people. This provision resulted in establishing a Body that became stronger and more reliant on God as one who delivers and protects. Conclusion

Towns, Elmer L.. Praying the Lord's Prayer for spiritual breakthrough . Ventura, Calif., U.S.A.: Regal Books, 1997.

Towns, Elmer L.. Biblical meditation for spiritual breakthrough . Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 1998.
Ibid, 200

10

11

As I stated earlier, throughout the entirety of my attendance at Liberty University I have yet to attend a class that was not applicable and timely to the season of which my life was in. This class has offered no different experience and its timing illustrates the perfect timing of God and the blessing that He issues to His people. The answers to the many of the prayers included issued protection, evil revealed, relationships strengthened and witnessing opportunities. These blessings have all honored God and have also strengthened my faith in a capacity that I did not know existed. Learning to lean on God in a new fashion has opened a special and intimate way to lean on my Lord. This essay has analyzed and critiqued the daily prayer assignment as it has been applied to my life. This paper has proven that prayer is an essential act of communicating and relying on the strength of the Lord in times of need and guidance. The spiritual and emotional ramifications for me are valuable and will be applied to my future ministry and teachings. On a personal

note, I must convey the appreciation that I have for this experience and express thanks.

12

Bibliography Cordeiro, William . Doing Church As a Team The Miracle of Teamwork and How It Transforms Churches.. Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books, 2009. Towns, Elmer L.. Putting an end to worship wars . Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997. Towns, Elmer L.. Praying the Lord's Prayer for spiritual breakthrough . Ventura, Calif., U.S.A.: Regal Books, 1997. Towns, Elmer L.. Understanding the deeper life: a guide to Christian experience. Old Tappan, N.J.: F.H. Revell, 1988. Towns, Elmer L.. Fasting for spiritual breakthrough: personal study guide. S.l.: Gospel Light, 1998. Towns, Elmer L., and Douglas Porter. The ten greatest revivals ever: from Pentecost to the present. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Vine Books, 2000. Towns, Elmer L.. Biblical meditation for spiritual breakthrough . Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 1998.