Father we confess that while You are holy, distinct and separate from all other things, we continue to love the things of this world. 

We confess our affection for what the world has to offer us. 

We confess our pursuit of happiness when You have called us to a pursuit of holiness. 

Forgive us for failing to worship You in spirit and in truth. Our minds are so preoccupied with ourselves that we often attend worship, sing the songs, sit for the sermons then leave unchanged—unmoved—so pre-occupied with the cares of this world that we completely miss the opportunity to come face to face with Your glory. 

Those of us who are leaders even dare to lead worship, teach lessons and participate in ministry plans all apart from You. 

Forgive us, LORD for bringing the world’s ways to the work You’ve called us to. 

Forgive us for depending on our own strength, our own power, our own cleverness and our...

Do you want the key that opens heaven's doors? 

Who doesn't? 

Afterall, a key like that could certainly be put to good use at a time like this! 

I don't know about you, but I always thought of heaven as some distant land called "Beulah." 

Not that Beulah is a bad name, but it sounded a bit old-fashioned to me, even if it does mean "married" and it's contextual meaning is that the land is "married to the LORD." 

Wait, take a pause here and think about the beauty of that word!

Beulah--the land (and people) married to the LORD.

Precious in His sight.

In a covenant relationship with Him forever.

Hmmm.

But when I heard about the Beulah land of heaven, it seemed to me to be a lofty place somewhere suspended in the sky--afterall we call our beautiful blue, sometimes stormy, other times starry sky --the "heavenlies." 

And if you pressed me further regarding my visual image of heaven, I would have to admit that it involves sitting on soft fluffy clouds playing...

There's an encounter in the Bible of a mere mortal and an angel. It goes something like this.

The mere mortal says to the angel, "Whose side are you on? Ours? Or theirs?"

And the angel replied, "Neither! I'm on the side of the LORD!"

I can't help but think of this angelic encounter during these final days leading up to the election.

The 16th president of the United States said this (the last time we were severely divided from one another): 

"I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right; but it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation may be on the Lord's side." - Abraham Lincoln

I hope that when you cast your vote you will let your biblical convictions guide your decision. 

I also hope that you will join hundreds of thousands of like-minded believers all across the US who are pleading with God to usher in peace, unity and truth. Let's continue to exercise our powerful privilege of prayer and pray with Honest Abe...

Oh, God please! Draw us back to...

Come Pray! Is a simple way to mobilize the people in your congregation to get off their blessed assurance and onto their knees to pray--even during the Covid-19 social distancing and ban on public gathering.

Simply open your worship center for individuals and families to come and go during one day of the week. We open our worship center on Wednesdays from 6AM-4PM. We set up 3 prayer stations where people receive instruction to help them direct their prayers. Here are suggestions for 6 prayer stations. (We change our prayer stations every two weeks.)

Come back often and find more prayer station suggestions.

Weeks 1 and 2:

Powerpoint welcome set at the front of your place of worship, continuous loop. (Each line represents a separate slide.)

Welcome: This is a sacred space.
A place where we remember that God is on His throne and all is well.
This is a place where we will worship…
…and pray
…and trust that the God who invited us to meet Him will
hear from heaven
...

“If we come to see the purpose of the universe as God’s long-term glory rather than our short-term happiness, then we will undergo a critical paradigm shift in tackling the problem of evil and suffering.” –Randy Alcorn 

Hmmm...kinda hits you in the gut, doesn’t it? I mean, most of my prayers are directly connected with my natural tendency to gravitate toward desiring happiness. Don’t yours? 

But what if, my temporary angst (I love that word, “angst” it was not in my vocabulary before I had young adult “children” but in this season of my life--it has become a favorite of mine!)...What if, my temporary “angst” and my momentary trouble--my discomfort, trial, confusion and frustration were all necessary in order for me to be used by God to bring about something great?! 

Would it be worth it then?

Yes. It. Would.

Wouldn’t it? 

Especially if you were to remember that He is the...

 Let’s talk about a couple women we meet in Genesis, and see what they have to teach us about FACE time with God (and one another). 

For fun, I’ve given these women a “face” for our story. Sarai (pronounced S’rI) will be played by...

 --Elizabeth Taylor. 

  And Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian handmaiden will be played by...

--Ava Gardner.

These two women, according to Google, represent two of the prettiest faces in the world! 

Think about faces...why are faces important? 

 I’ve heard someone say, “the eyes are the window into the soul.” 

And I think I agree with them. When I think of the people I love, I don’t think about their feet, or their hands, or any other part of their bodies. When I think about the people I love, the picture that comes to my mind is that of their faces. And when I think of their faces, I’m not deciding whether or not they...

  I've been busy this year preparing a ministry that I am super-excited about. The Prayer Clinic is an intercessory prayer ministry that will mobilize your church to pray.

  As I've written books and taught on prayer and spiritual warfare, I've realized that the church doesn't need to study prayer more, she needs to just PRAY MORE! I'm convinced that when we pray, God works. I'm also convinced that when we don't pray, we miss a whole lot of what God has promised He will do for us. 

You're familiar with 2 Chronicles 7:14, 

"If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land." 

  Our land is not well. Many of our churches are not well. Our brothers and sisters are not well. I know that when the church begins to pray, the healing will follow. That's why I am dedicated to this exciting ministry.

  The Prayer Clinic is...

Don't you love the back-to-school pictures? Here's ours.

My granddaughter, Misty is starting 2nd grade, and River is going out into the world to conquer her preschool class. 

  I think I love the return to school NOT because I am eager for summer to end, but rather because I love the return to a routine. I don't know about you, but at the McCoy house, we just seem to get more done when we are living in a routine.

  What if, this school year, you got in the routine of praying for your children and their teachers. I got a diagram out of Misty's backpack, that showed me where each teacher taught her class. It was complete with the names of the staff members who serve at her elementary school. I am going to take that diagram and put it in my prayer journal so that I can pray over each staff member by name throughout this school year.

  One of the great Pray-ers from days gone by, said this: 

"God has promised to hear prayer, and he will perform his...

If you are reading this blog post, you have already allowed God to share His passion for a particular ministry with you.

And if God's shared his passion, He's chosen you to stand in the gap on behalf of others who are on the front lines of Christ's kingdom advance. 

Those others might be missionaries, pastors, teachers of pastors, strategists, supporters, or believers who are enduring persecution.

I've no doubt their resources are limited, their challenges are great and their dreams are large. 

They teach, and travel, and build, and recruit, and promote, and fund raise, and...do it over and over again, all day, everyday.

And you? You have been called to pray.

The enemy would like for you to consider your job insignificant. You're not like them. You've not sacrificed, or gone hungry, or slept on the hard ground under a star-studded sky. This praying job is the kind that can go undone and no one will notice if you don't show up to work. The enemy wants to convince you...

   I don’t know how your elementary schools ended their field days but mine always culminated with a great big game of tug of war. We lined up on opposite sides of a mud pit, grabbed hold of that dirty rope and held on tight as we wrestled with the team on the other side. We strained against the pressure, heaved and hauled as hard as we could. Back and forth we’d go as the bystanders hollered and our faces turned purple. We grunted and groaned until we either fell on our backsides in victory or found ourselves face down in the mud pit of defeat.

  That was fun.

  Those tug of war games remind me of Jacob’s wrestling match with God, and what a wrestling match that was! Jacob, a mere man, afraid, vulnerable, and completely at the mercy of God, versus the Lord Almighty, the ultimate power of heaven. Is it just me, or do you too find it interesting that, while Jacob was terrified of his brother, he didn’t hesitate to take on God? I love that!...