Excuses Why Our Generation Skips Private Prayer....

Jesus clearly stated in Matthew 6:6, "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." This is one of the most talked about subjects in Christian circles yet it is one of the most seldom practiced at home. Why have we become so apathetic to talking with our Father in heaven? What makes us skip and create excuses to not enter our prayer closets? Is prayer a form for us or a lifestyle? Can we return as a generation to spending private quality time with the Lord again? Do YOU make excuses to avoid time in prayer?

I believe these are some of the more frequent excuses our generation has made to the area of private prayer....

1. Prayer Is Uninteresting. Give us hours and hours and hours of worship concerts, worship festivals, worship music, worship celebrations, worship awakenings but can I ask where is the same hunger for diligent PRAYER? More than anything, where is the passion for private prayer??

2. I Pray On The Go. We suppress our guilt-ridden conscious by praying on the go. We have enough time to swing by Starbucks and grab coffee and a bagel and along the ride we chew out words of requests to the Lord. We say we have prayed when we stand at a red light and utter ten words of thanks all the while sending five various text-messages to friends. If you want to KNOW the Father you must spend TIME with the Father. Prayer is not a drive-thru menu it's a place of separation, consecration, and dedication.

3. Busy! Busy! Busy! We love being busy! We have school engagements, church meetings, conferences, social parties, work obligations, college tests and on and on. We somehow are still able to fit all those events into our day yet we have dismal effort to find private time with the Father.

4. I Am Fatigued. More and more people are becoming weary not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. Our body screams at us to sleep one more hour and not to wake up. It has manipulating ways to make us go to bed without hearing the Father. The more we say yes to our flesh the more we say no to our spirit.

5. Prayer Starts and Ends in Church. If our passion is Jesus then let's meet with him privately. We love moving our lips during times of prayer in church but many times our hearts may be far from the One we are praying to. Church is a catalyst to keep our prayer life growing it shouldn't be our start and end point.

6. Prayer is Not MY Thing. Oh Really??! Prayer has never been any man's "thing". It has always been the tool to undo the flesh inside of us so that the Second Adam-Jesus Christ can rule and reign in every area of our lives. The Bible is not a buffet of teachings where I will take the blessings and let the praying be done by the leaders. Each of us gives personal account. Let's make prayer OUR thing in our generation!

7. I Get TOO Distracted. This is exactly why Jesus said to find a place and shut the door! Find a place and make the time to shut out the distractions. No iPhones, no texts, no emails, no books, no internet web browsing, shut it out. If you date your wife or husband and do all those other things while you are out, sooner or later it will cause awkward conversations. Dedicate the time solely to the Lord.

8. Pray FOR Me. As I travel the world, I notice more and more believers asking ministers, missionaries, pastors to pray FOR them. What's wrong with that, right? Well, when I follow up and ask, "Did you pray about it yet?", the reply usually is , "No not yet." We have a DIRECT line to the Father! Let's start using it. This is why Jesus suffered on the cross. This is why we have complete union with the Father again. Start talking with the FATHER. He is waiting for you.

9. I Cannot Pray Long. God is not desiring you to pray long prayers. He wants you to KNOW Him. It's not about what we tell God but what is God telling us? Does the Father know you or does He know about you? Stay in the secret place rain or shine. God always has something to tell you.

10. Just Pure Lazy. We can have an endless list of excuses yet one of the most underlining problems is pure laziness. That's right- LAZY! Our generation has a problem with responsibility and honest ethics. No one wants to admit and say, "Hey everyone! I'm lazy and really don't feel like it.". We must bring even our laziness to the Lord. Ask Him to give us the courage, will, and desire to be responsible enough to feed our souls and not blame pastors, church leaders, and ministers that they are not doing enough. It's time we stop being lazy Christians and start spending time with the Father one on one.

"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor." -John 12:26

Twitter- @PaulMuzichuk

iAsk: Pastor Ron McCants, Ministry Ambassador with In Touch Ministries

Every Monday I will be posting new interviews with Christian leaders to find in-depth counsel on issues such as ministry, family, careers, politics, finance, and theology. Today's interview is with Pastor Ron McCants with In Touch Ministries. Pastor Ron and I met earlier this year at a men's discipleship event in Florida and have stayed connected encouraging and praying for each other. 

Pastor Ron McCants

PAUL: First if you can give a small summary of who you are, what you do and what is your greatest passion in life?
 
RON: I have been in ministry for 35+ years, mostly in Tennessee and Florida. Barbara and I have been married 42 years and our lives together just get better with each passing year!

We recently moved to the Atlanta area to accept a position as Ministry Ambassador with In Touch Ministries. As an Ambassador I travel and call on Ministry Partners – sort of a Pastoral extension of Dr. Stanley’s ministry. It is such a joy to get to meet so many people and pray with them about their needs and hear what God is doing in their lives.

An added bonus is living less than an hour from our daughter and her family and getting to worship with them! We are about to launch a Life Group in our home beginning in January.

The mention of family brings me to the greatest passion in my life – relational discipleship. What joy to see people grow in their relationship with Jesus.  As the Body of Christ walks in right relationship with Him it must involve a relationship with each other. The purest form of discipleship happens in close quarters!

PAUL: 1. Pastor Ron, thank you for taking the time to share your heart with me. I would like to first ask you what has the Lord been impressing upon your heart the most this year? Its been a year of ups and downs for many families and ministries. What has the Lord been talking to you personally about?

RON: Since this has been a year of tremendous transition for us it is hard to get beyond what He began speaking to my heart the beginning of the year – Isaiah 54:2 – enlarge…stretch…lengthen…strengthen!

It seems sort of strange in a time when everything around us seems to be shrinking but the initial imperative for Israel and for us – enlarge – refers to the “place” of our tents. I believe that while we are facing those “ups and downs” we should not retreat or downsize our thinking. It was a prophetic word for Israel – He wants to be the God of the Gentiles – and it is a prophetic word for us – there are many people out there that are unlike us that we should enlarge the place of our tent to include!

The transition of ministry for us has placed us squarely in the midst of people I never could have imagined I would be. He may be shuffling the entire deck of Christianity…

Pastor Ron ministering

PAUL: 2. If we take a holistic view on the body of Christ today with all its spiritual victories and weaknesses, what have you observed as being barriers to unity among the brethren? Also, how can we begin to heal some of these issues?

RON: As referenced above, God has a larger place for us. I believe that means that we should not narrow our focus to strictly those circles in which we have been comfortable. As one person said (I don’t remember!) “Everyone is a 10 at something.” For the Body of Christ that means we can’t discount any stream of tradition.

It may seem like a cliché but we need each other, and we need to focus on the things that unite, not the things that divide us into different camps. And I don’t mean to include every heresy and extreme theology. Let’s work on those things that are not essentials of the faith and cling to those that are.

There is ONE place where we are all alike – at the foot of the Cross. There is ONE spiritual discipline in which if we engage together, it would heal not only the Body but the culture – prayer!

PAUL: 3. Many are concerned today about the decline of morality and spiritual hunger in our country these days, what hope do you see for a revival to awaken? Some say that natural disasters like Katrina, Sandy, and violent tornadoes are God's judgements against America. Does this have any significance for Christians in America?

RON: I heard Bishop B.E. Underwood say many years ago that in the world there are two agendas. The devil’s agenda is that in the end times perilous times would come, but the Lord’s agenda is that in the last days HE would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. Whose agenda will we follow?

I don’t think we can specifically say that natural disasters are necessarily from God – if He is punishing or judging America, then why are there more disasters in other parts of the world? The recent earthquake and typhoon in the Philippines is an example. Are they more corrupt than America? This is an example of comparing ourselves among ourselves and we are not wise (fools) – 2 Corinthians 10:12.

That does not mean that we are exempt from God’s judgment. We do have much to answer for, especially the Christian community but we can’t pinpoint a natural disaster as being judgment from God any more than we can pinpoint the cause of the man born blind to his or his parents’ sin! (John 9)

Pastor Ron preaching

PAUL: 4. As a seasoned minister, what counsel can you share with young people in my generation on walking in the fear of the Lord? It seems many have lost sight of this and enjoy messages of hyper-grace and living life as one seems good and right. It deeply concerns me seeing an imbalance of truth and grace. Pastor Ron, share with me your father's heart on this.

RON: We have so misunderstood the fear of the Lord. The first definition listed for that phrase in most commentaries and lexicons is “morally, reverence.” The concept is that we revere God – hold Him in such high esteem – that we would not want to do anything to disappoint Him.

The best example I can come up with is that any child wants to please their father (parents) so badly they will do or refrain from doing anything, regardless of his or her home life or treatment from their parent. That seems to be innate for all of us.

So it is with our loving Heavenly Father. We cannot use the great grace poured out on us as a license to act any way we want towards God or fellow man. Although we don’t have to DO anything to receive His grace, because of His grace and my reverence of Him why would I do anything to displease Him? My greatest goal is to know Him (the fellowship of His suffering and the power of His resurrection); His goal for me is that Christ be formed in me. I don’t envision Christ presuming on the grace of God to act in His own self-interests, otherwise the Cross would not have happened!

Young people, please do not take the liberty of your freedom in Christ to diminish His life and power within you to be Godly examples. As Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith, I would admonish your generation to “pursue righteousness….” Read 2 Timothy 2, especially verses 19-22.

PAUL: 5. One conclusion I have noticed is our generation is thirsty for transparent leaders and spiritual fathers and mothers. Having said that, looking back into your walk with the Lord what are some personal disappointments have you been through that may help someone avoid them in the future?

RON: I think the greatest disappointments I have had came from making decisions (early on) without really laying out the options to trusted mentors or spiritual fathers. When I began my walk with the Lord and in ministry that concept was not really on the radar screen in most of Christianity, at least in my circles of influence.

I would NEVER make another major decision without having at least 2-3 mentors whom I look up to and respect as fathers in the faith giving me their blessings. Find them, stick to them like barnacles on a pier, and trust God to speak through them. But at the end of the day…you make the decision.

And I must say, not to my own credit, my life has had very few disappointments. God has been good to me. Someone said that you are not old until regrets replace dreams – I must be very young!

PAUL: 6. On a more lighter note, What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Any interesting family traditions you do that you can share?

Pastor Ron and his wife Barbara

RON: Actually, our plans for Thanksgiving this year are brand new. Living in Florida and our daughter, Stephanie, living in NE Georgia, we have been having Thanksgiving with her family – Kirk and Will and Kirk’s parents and extended family. This year they are all coming to our house! Pray hard for Barbara. She approaches it a little differently than me – for me if there is food and family it is a good day, no matter the quality of the food…or the family!

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iAsk: Robert Walter- Training Director for LeaderSource

Every Monday I will be posting new interviews with Christian leaders to find in-depth counsel on issues such as ministry, family, careers, politics, finance, and theology.

Robert Walter

My first interview is with training director from LeaderSource, Robert Walter, who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia. Earlier this year I ministered together with Robert at Bold Venture Northeast Regional Men's Discipleship Conference held in Philadelphia, PA. My hope is many who read this interview and the ones to follow will gain new insights, inspiration, and be challenged to become disciple-makers. Here are ten questions I asked Robert....

PAUL: First if you can give a small summary of who you are, what you do and what is your greatest passion in life? 

Robert: Paul,I appreciate what you are doing here and pray God’s blessings on it and you!

Who am I? I have had different job descriptions and titles but the most important one comes from Jesus – he calls me friend.  Along the way, I’m amazed at all he’s let me in on. I worked many years in the petroleum business until God called me into full time ministry. At that point, I became a pastor and as of the last 10 years, I’ve been involved in a ministry for training pastors and other church leaders. I feel like I’m in my sweet spot because I get to do what I do best – teaching, coaching, counseling. Seeing lives change is a real thrill.

Leaders from various countries praying for the
North Korean Church in Hong Kong.

PAUL: 1. You just recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong, China where you met with Christian leaders from 20 different countries. Tell me about your experience there. What were the results of your meeting? 

ROBERT: Leaders can easily get isolated. Our Leader Development Consultation was a time of being connected, encouraged and being equipped.

There were several great outcomes. One was a renewed sense that even though we come from different nations, we are one family. We know that in our minds but it is far better to experience it.

One example was the commitment Chinese church leaders made to bless Christians in North Korea. This followed a report from North Korea about the amazing endurance of North Korean Christians in the face of the most humiliating persecution. There was a time of powerful intercession for our brothers and sisters in North Korea as we wept with them. Several strategic partnerships have now been established and the Chinese have pledged to get more involved.

Another great outcome was that leaders left with a much more holistic and comprehensive view of how to develop the next generation of leaders.  They have a new paradigm for discipleship and very practical ideas of how to reach nations and raise up leaders.

Several leaders (from the left) Robert Walter, Dr. Jessy Thomas (New India Bible Seminary faculty member), Dr. Jaison Thomas (New India Bible Seminary Director), Elie Haddad (Arab Baptist Theological Seminary President), Raj Chevelraj (LeaderSource India Director)

PAUL: 2. What is the number one challenge facing Christian leaders in the world today?

ROBERT: I don’t know the number one challenge but I will tell you that modernization brings many temptations that have undermined scores of leaders in the undeveloped (majority) world.

With the internet comes a connection to lots of great resources but also a connection to internet pornography. And it’s no longer a problem just for men; many women also report a struggle with this issue.

Another challenge is materialism. You can’t serve God and money. We see many leaders falling out because of the lure of material success as capitalism sweeps their nation.

PAUL: 3. As the training director of , LeaderSource, a Christian leadership organization and a pastor, what was something you saw in Christian leaders in Asia that you have seldom seen elsewhere?

ROBERT: I serve with a guy named, Malcolm Webber, who does a fantastic job leading our organization called LeaderSource.

One thing I notice is how dedicated Asian leaders are to learning and to ministry. In the US, people complain if I speak longer than 45 minutes; there they complain if you can’t teach for at least four hours.

But their dedication comes with a price. Many of these leaders work 7 days a week and rarely take a break. They often neglect their own families. It can happen in the West too but it is a far greater problem there.

PAUL: 4. Why have you invested so much time, energy, and resources in training leaders around the world?

ROBERT: Evangelism gets all the press but lack of healthy leaders is the bottleneck. Jesus pointed this out to the disciples when he told them the harvest is great but the workers are few.  He directed them to focus their prayers not on getting more souls but on getting more shepherds.

One leader from Papua New Guinea told us this crazy story. He actually told his evangelists to STOP sharing the Gospel. Here is what was happening. The evangelists go into a village to pray for the sick and miracles start to break out. As a result the whole village often comes to faith.  But the problem is that there aren’t enough pastors to care for these new believers where so many remain superficial believers or fall away. So this leader from Papua New Guinea finally told his evangelists to STOP sharing the Gospel and focus instead on discipleship. He desperately wants someone to help him train pastors.

Jesus did ministry but where would the church be if he had not also trained the next generation of those who would do ministry and plant churches. That’s why we equip experienced Christian leaders to train emerging Christian leaders.

PAUL: 5. There has been in the last decade a plethora of books, DVDs, and training manuals written and produced on Christian leadership yet we still have moral failures, financial scandals, and disgraced leaders leaving the ministry. What do you see as the weak point Christian ministers and leaders should be addressing?

ROBERT: The problem is not just that we are focusing on the wrong issues, we are also using the wrong methods. Our goal in training tends to emphasize competencies. But we need to be developing more than just competencies (Biblical knowledge and ministry skills). We also need to help leaders grow in their relationship with Jesus, grow in their family and team relationships, and grow in their character.

This is all easier said than done. To actually accomplish this goal we can’t rely on teaching alone – no matter how good it is. People learn in relationships; they learn through experiences. Jesus was a brilliant teacher, of course, but his genius is not just his content, it’s in setting up a context for learning that is rich in relationships, experiences and the work of the Spirit.

We tend to think the answer is in the curriculum, but books and lectures don’t make leaders. Leaders grow in the crucible of life in connection with other godly men and women. 

PAUL: 6. Share with me some examples of Christian women in key leadership roles that have affected the expansion of the Great Commission in the body of Christ from your personal encounters? ...and as a follow up... women have been marginalized some even outright forbidden in holding roles of leadership in the church around the world, what would change this view in Christian men to see the value of godly and leadership gifted women?
 
ROBERT: We’ve had the privilege of working with some mighty women of God. One I’m thinking of has planted thousands of churches but still hesitates among her peers to exert her authority.

PAUL: 7.  What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?

ROBERT: I’d say 1) dedicate yourself to growing in intimacy and dependency on Christ – apart from him we can’t do anything of lasting value.  And 2) build your support team – safe people who can pray for you, encourage you, coach you, challenge you and cheer you on. Finally, 3) realize you don’t have to be perfect. God chooses the weak to shame the strong and the foolish to shame the wise. This isn’t an excuse for lackluster performance but it is a reassurance that God delights to use everyone of us.

PAUL: 8. Can you share with me one or two leadership failures that you have personally gone through, how it affected you internally, and what would your advice be for someone in a similar position?

ROBERT: My advice (above) comes from lessons I should have learned from the Word but instead had to learn from my own mistakes.

In my early years of full time ministry, I experienced a lot of success. Unfortunately, that led me to depend more on my own experience and education.  I got by until there was a time of great testing and things started to fall apart. It was then that I realized my big mistake: I was so busy doing things for Jesus that I didn’t have time to spend with Jesus. I had become a hollow man.  And you can’t give what you don’t have.

Long story short…I reconnected with Jesus on a mountain in New Mexico and that led to deep repentance. Then he had to rebuild me before he could rebuild the church. But he is faithful even when we are not.

PAUL: 9. Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life? 

ROBERT: There is more than one but let me mention a person who was a lifeline to me during a long season of testing in my ministry. I had a spiritual mother named Betty. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. She prayed for me every day, exhorted and encouraged me. Meeting with her each week was often the highlight of my week. She is with the Lord now and I miss her.

PAUL: 10. What are a few resources you would recommend to someone looking to gain insight into becoming a better leader?

ROBERT: There are lots of good resources out there. But a book or a course is nothing compared to a spiritual father or another Christian leader who you can meet with face to face. All the same, we do have some good resources on our website. You can check it out at www.leadersource.org

Twitter: @PaulMuzichuk

Holy Spirit Teach Us To Love

According to the world population clock there are 7,127,160,367 people living in this world as of July 4, 2013. In that number is you and me, your neighbors, your peers, your friends, your family, the gas station attendant, your supermarket cashier, and billions more! They come from many countries, different languages, variety of cultural traditions, from white to mocha to black skin colors, all with a unique and complete originality about them. Each one of these people desire one thing in common, pure love. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are told that people will see the love of God when they observe how we, as Christians, love one another. What makes us stop loving one culture from the next? Why do we passionately love, care, and bless those with the same language or same church name or same denomination or even same Bible college name yet find things inside our heart that has no compassion for an impoverished family in a different region or a church leader in a different denomination or a young person who dresses and speaks in unrecognizable tones to you?

Unconditional Love 
I am so happy that Jesus did not love me because I belonged to a denomination or a seminary but loved me unconditionally with an everlasting love. The Bible teaches us that Christ loved you and me when were yet still sinners! Hallelujah! Jesus saved me, became my best friend for the pure love of God was in Him. It moved His heart with compassion to serve a world that failed to show mercy, kindness, and love. Jesus teaches us how to love ALL the world!

What has happened to us as followers of Jesus Christ that we have become so divided,  prejudice, and self-serving? We have denominations and affiliations that keep order and structure yet draw lines in the sand to determine are these outside folks or churches or organizations "clean" enough to shake hands with. We pretend to love the world and the world sees our disguise. Thousands of church leaders and pastors have fallen prey to hurtful discouragement and wounds because we see a microscopic vision of God's love. We want to love those that adore, love, and respect us. However, Jesus reminded us we receive our reward already here on earth if we only love those who do the same in return. As Christians we have become unresponsive to our selfish motives and we need the unconditional love and grace of the precious Holy Spirit to move us to love people who desperately are seeking it in this world of sin and hurt.

Break Pride via Servant-Humility
Masking your pride and conceit will only lead you to a dungeon of despair and personal torment. Have you ever met a Christian person or leader who wreaked from pride all over? You could smell it in the dialogue, in the careless attitude towards you,  and in the selfish wants not needs they had for themselves for you to do. How do we break this in our generation? We must learn to be humble and servant minded to ALL people. That means praying for ALL types of people, caring for them, befriending them, genuinely having a heart felt conversation and not just the regular "God loves you" Christian slogan. Get personal with people and let them SEE the love of God. It is time we stop our endless meetings and start conversations with real people that need real help from the real source which is Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit!

I challenge you to inventory your circle of relationships and ask yourself the following:
Do I love them mostly because they love me?
Do I initiate friendships or do I wait for the friend to come to me?
Can I love every nation, every people, every race?
Jesus, examine my motives inside my heart and teach me by your Holy Spirit to love ALL people!

Twitter: @PaulMuzichuk