Nice Lady
Well-Known Member
For two years, a handful of KCC’ers have gathered for prayer in the Lighthouse Prayer Chapel during at least one weekend service. Every weekend, we lay down our own agenda and life’s general busyness, and pursue one thing. We ask God to be increasingly present and powerful in KCC’s ministries and services. We ask Him to reveal Himself, and lead the services to a deeper experience of his purpose, presence and power. (see Jer. 29.11-13) Without God, our efforts at ministry fall flat. There’s not one heart we can change, one life that can be lifted, or one program that will be successful without the Power of God through is Holy Spirit, and the Word of God guiding us in truth.
Most KCC’ers haven’t experienced an extended prayer time. The idea of praying together in a group for 70 - 90 minutes is intimidating and unknown. At the same time, we mentally agree that praying together for the church ministries is a good thing. Prayer is something that ‘somebody’ should do. This reminds me of a poem I heard somewhere long ago.
The Parable of Responsibility
Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody came to church one Sunday.
There was an important job to do and Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure that Somebody would take up the challenge.
Anybody would have done it, but in the end Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job.
Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realized that Anybody wouldn’t do it.
In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
We started the Outlet Prayer Ministry to end Everybody’s, Somebody’s Nobody’s and Anybody’s problem when it comes to prayer, because Jesus encourages us all to pray.
He set the example for us to follow.
He chided his followers when they couldn’t minister to others because of their lack of prayer.
He longed for their support in the Garden, asked them to come along with Him.
He lamented when they couldn’t pray just an hour with Him.
Jesus promised power, and positive results when we follow his example, accept his invitation, and then follow through by laying down our agenda, and spending time in prayer.
If you haven’t participated in an extended time of prayer, here is what you can expect when you join us for a Sunday in the Outlet Prayer Ministry. We don’t come with a laundry list of things we want God to do for us, and take turns reading them. Prayer is the vital breath of our relationship with God, and He wants to connect with us as much as we want to connect with a powerful and loving God. We follow the general pattern described in scripture as we enter God’s presence and ask Him to make Himself known, and answer our prayers.
P – Praise
Psalm 100.4 says we enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and come into his courts with praise. We start our prayer times focusing on who God is, and his Greatness. Like the priests of the Old Testament who sacrificed for their sins and washed themselves physically before entering the temple, we use praise and worship set our hearts in the right place as we enter into God’s presence.
R – Repent
Psalm 139 asks God to search our hearts and test our thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in us. Isaiah 59 says our sins separate us from God. While these are Old Testament scriptures, and Jesus has forgiven us for all our sins, we are still responsible to come to him, and let him wash us, like he washed the disciples’ feet. We need to confess sins, habits, attitudes and actions that don’t honor Him, or reflect the presence of his Spirit in our lives. Repentance clears our hearts and refocuses us on God’s priorities as we pray.
A – Ask
After we have prepared our hearts, we begin to ask. We intercede for the worship service, for KCC’s ministries, and for the hundreds of volunteers that make a weekend service possible. We pray over the pastors and their families, and engage in spiritual warfare over every aspect of the church’s work, services and outreach. We also pray for the missionaries we support, and the daughter churches KCC has planted around the city and country. 1 John 5 says that when we ask anything according to his will, we can be confident that we are heart, and that we have the things we ask of him.
Y – Yield
As we close our time together, we yield our hearts and re-assess our position before a great, powerful and Mighty God. At the end of all our work and prayer, He is God and we are not. We want God to work in our midst, and through our church. Sometimes God wants to make us the answer to our prayers, or work in our hearts and lives before he can work through us. So we end in a posture of yeildedness, and pray the only formal words of prayer that Jesus gave us. Sometimes called the “Our Father,” Jesus’ prayer in Matt 6 includes all these aspects: praise, and repentance, asking, and yielding.
Most KCC’ers haven’t experienced an extended prayer time. The idea of praying together in a group for 70 - 90 minutes is intimidating and unknown. At the same time, we mentally agree that praying together for the church ministries is a good thing. Prayer is something that ‘somebody’ should do. This reminds me of a poem I heard somewhere long ago.
The Parable of Responsibility
Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody came to church one Sunday.
There was an important job to do and Everybody was asked to do it.
Everybody was sure that Somebody would take up the challenge.
Anybody would have done it, but in the end Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job.
Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realized that Anybody wouldn’t do it.
In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
We started the Outlet Prayer Ministry to end Everybody’s, Somebody’s Nobody’s and Anybody’s problem when it comes to prayer, because Jesus encourages us all to pray.
He set the example for us to follow.
He chided his followers when they couldn’t minister to others because of their lack of prayer.
He longed for their support in the Garden, asked them to come along with Him.
He lamented when they couldn’t pray just an hour with Him.
Jesus promised power, and positive results when we follow his example, accept his invitation, and then follow through by laying down our agenda, and spending time in prayer.
If you haven’t participated in an extended time of prayer, here is what you can expect when you join us for a Sunday in the Outlet Prayer Ministry. We don’t come with a laundry list of things we want God to do for us, and take turns reading them. Prayer is the vital breath of our relationship with God, and He wants to connect with us as much as we want to connect with a powerful and loving God. We follow the general pattern described in scripture as we enter God’s presence and ask Him to make Himself known, and answer our prayers.
P – Praise
Psalm 100.4 says we enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and come into his courts with praise. We start our prayer times focusing on who God is, and his Greatness. Like the priests of the Old Testament who sacrificed for their sins and washed themselves physically before entering the temple, we use praise and worship set our hearts in the right place as we enter into God’s presence.
R – Repent
Psalm 139 asks God to search our hearts and test our thoughts, and see if there is any wicked way in us. Isaiah 59 says our sins separate us from God. While these are Old Testament scriptures, and Jesus has forgiven us for all our sins, we are still responsible to come to him, and let him wash us, like he washed the disciples’ feet. We need to confess sins, habits, attitudes and actions that don’t honor Him, or reflect the presence of his Spirit in our lives. Repentance clears our hearts and refocuses us on God’s priorities as we pray.
A – Ask
After we have prepared our hearts, we begin to ask. We intercede for the worship service, for KCC’s ministries, and for the hundreds of volunteers that make a weekend service possible. We pray over the pastors and their families, and engage in spiritual warfare over every aspect of the church’s work, services and outreach. We also pray for the missionaries we support, and the daughter churches KCC has planted around the city and country. 1 John 5 says that when we ask anything according to his will, we can be confident that we are heart, and that we have the things we ask of him.
Y – Yield
As we close our time together, we yield our hearts and re-assess our position before a great, powerful and Mighty God. At the end of all our work and prayer, He is God and we are not. We want God to work in our midst, and through our church. Sometimes God wants to make us the answer to our prayers, or work in our hearts and lives before he can work through us. So we end in a posture of yeildedness, and pray the only formal words of prayer that Jesus gave us. Sometimes called the “Our Father,” Jesus’ prayer in Matt 6 includes all these aspects: praise, and repentance, asking, and yielding.
