This Week at Zoe

On Wednesday, 12/5/12, at 7:30 P.M., Pastor Steve will continue teaching on I Timothy 3.

On Thursday, 12/6/12, at 7:00 P.M., the Worship Team will meet in the sanctuary for practice.

On Sunday, 12/9/12, at 10:00 A.M., we'll meet for our regular Sunday Service. Be sure to invite your friends and neighbors!

5 Minutes to Effective Prayers - Effective Prayer for Other Believers

Text:  John 17

Jesus sees the disciples as having belonged to God and given to Him by God. He gave them what He received so that they would give to others. Don't wait for things to happen. You can study, pray, and minister to other believers.

Fellowship with God involves not only seeking Him for your own needs, but also for the needs of other believers. Jesus prayed for the disciples and future generations. Don't pray that God will take you out of this world, but commit that you'll serve Him while you're here.

In Luke 22:31-34, it sounds like Satan has asked God for permission to sift Peter like wheat, but Jesus prayed that his faith wouldn't fail. In the Greek, there are tenses for personal pronouns like the word, "you." Here the plural form of "you" is used. Peter wasn't being singled out. Jesus' prayer was for all the disciples, not just him.

The word, "sift," means to sift, shake in a sieve. Satan accomplishes this by inward agitation to put the individual on the verge of losing their faith. Jesus does not pray that their tests would be lessened or removed. He prays:

1) That their faith would not fail
2) That they would strengthen their brethren

Persecution would come to them because the Word was in them. Think about a football game. The opposition goes after the guy holding the football. If he doesn't have the football, they leave him alone. The player does everything he can to retain the ball and cross the goal line.

Sometimes we need to hang onto something and not give up. It's you that gives Satan permission to steal the Word from your heart. How does this happen?

1) Cares of this world
2) Deceitfulness of riches
3) Lack of understanding

We can pray that other believers' faith will not fail and for them to strengthen other believers.

Jesus did not pray that Peter would return to Him. Peter had a free will and that was his decision. God does not make you decide to do the right thing.

How can we fortify ourselves against the onslaught on the enemy? Prayer builds you up and gives you endurance.

As always, this is a brief summary of the message. To get the full benefit, please go to our website, and click on the Sermon player. You can listen online, download it to your MP3, or podcast it.

If you're visiting in the area or looking for a church home, we invite you to our Sunday Morning Service at 10:00 A.M. We're located at 1111 Easton Rd. (Rte. 611), in Warrington, PA. The church phone number is (215) 343-7686. All welcome!

Announcements

The Ladies' Brunch has been postponed. They will meet on Saturday, 12/30/12, at 10:00 A.M., in the  Children's Church Auditorium. 

Please bring a breakfast item and your Bible.

If you would  like  prayer for a specific need, just mention it to one of the ushers or use a prayer request card on the back table. We are happy to pray for you during the service or privately afterward, whichever you prefer.

Quotable Quotes

"Faith is the audacity that rejoices in the fact that God cannot break His own Word." - Smith Wigglesworth

This Week at Zoe

On Wednesday, 11/28/12, at 7:30 P.M., Pastor Steve will teach on I Timothy 3.

On Thursday, 11/29/12, the Worship Team will meet for practice at 7:00 P.M.

On  Sunday, 12/2/12, at 10:00 A.M., we'll gather for our Worship Service. Since it's the first Sunday of the month, we'll have communion.

After the Sunday Morning Service on 12/2/12, we'll have our last Covered Dish Dinner for the year. Please bring a main dish, enough for your family and some to share, as well as a dessert item. We are usually done by 2:30 P.M. We hope you'll plan to stay for delicious food and fellowship.

Sunday Morning Series - And God Gave Gifts to Men - Effective Prayer for Fellowship

Text:  I John1:1-7

Review

The most common prayer of Christians is for things, but most of our requests should be for wisdom. Christians also pray a lot for help when they should be praising and thanking God. Crying for help is a sign of unbelief. When the disciples woke up Jesus in the boat, they were seeking His help. He asked them where their faith was.

Most of our time in prayer is spent informing, complaining, pleading, and begging God. Most of our prayer time should be in fellowship.

Purpose

When we go to prayer for the purpose of fellowship, we should come away with:

1) Understanding - Maybe you don't understand a particular scripture. God will bring understanding.

2) Revelation - This is something brand new to you.

3) Knowledge of  God

4) Communion with God

5) Basically, we should grow.

Examples

1) Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden. What conversations did they have? They lived in a perfect environment, so they wouldn't be talking about the weather. The animals were already named. Most likely, they asked God questions about how He made the earth, the birds, animals, and them. They passed that knowledge on to their children and future generations until finally Moses wrote the information in book form.

2) Enoch (Genesis 5:22-24) - He lived for 365 years. One of the things he learned while spending time with God was the timing of the flood. He named his son, Methusaleh, which indicated that when the child died the flood would come. Methusaleh lived 969 years. In the year he died, the prophetic word was fulfilled.

3) David - He was a shepherd, which was pretty boring unless you were defending them against a bear or lion. He occupied himself by playing the harp, composing songs (psalms), and talking to the Lord.

Application:

Prayer for fellowship involveds:

1)  Praying in the Spirit
2)  Meditation, which is going over and over the Word of God. Worry is corrupted meditation.
3)  Discussion - This is advanced. Moses, Elijah, Enoch, Abraham,  Adam all had two-way conversations with God. This can take the form of hearing God audibly, inside your spirit, through His Word, or in an open vision.

To hear the entire message, check out our website. There will be a link to the Sermon Player. You'll be able to listen online, download the message to your MP3 player, or podcast FREE.

If you're visiting in the area or looking for a church home, we invite you to our Sunday Morning Service at 10:00 A.M. We're located at 1111 Easton Rd. (Rte. 611), Warrington, PA  The church phone number is (215) 343-7686. We'd love to meet you!

Quotable Quote

"If you pray in faith, you get to the praise. If you never get to the praise, you never get to the faith..." - Keith Moore