It's time you and me become experts in biblical praying. Yep, Instead of us merely "sayin' your prayers", let's earnestly pray. You know we could opt to become experts in a lot of things, but look around you. In these last days your friends, family, missionaries and nation need us praying more than ever before.

"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you." 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Let's learn prayin' in simply prayin', and in the Bible as well. 

It can be unspoken or just a light whisper upwards to your best Friend. It can be so short "Jesus, help my friend through that horrible test." or longer. It can be on your knees or as you drive "Lord, I feel kinda scared. Help me trust and love you more today." Prayer is more a longing of the soul expressed, than it is of religious begging or of mere asking. Before your Lord it can be a groan, a  m o a n, or a thank you Father, or even a sigh. It is daily an admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a humble heart with an engaged-mind without words.. than words without heart. "Jesus, please make a way through, over or out--there's seems to be no way at all."

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." ~ Abraham Lincoln

"To pray rightly, you must make God your hope, stay, and all. Right prayer sees nothing substantial or worth being concerned about except God." ~ John Bunyan  

"Stay faithful. If you're hurting, stay hopeful. Pray and give thanks to God for the opportunity to grow; ask Him to shed light, ask Him for clarity." ~ Thomas Nelson

"God does nothing except in response to believing prayer." ~ John Wesley

"The world was made partly that there may be prayer; partly that our prayers might be answered." ~ C.S. Lewis

"Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. Turn to sacred history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

Father, we come to You now for the peace that only You can give...

Prince of peace...
We pray that You give us peace in this Land, and a fresh awareness of Your presence as we each continue on with Jesus as Lord. Fill us, refill, refresh us with Your Spirit, with vision, with new vitality that we may approach Your throne of grace having confidence to receive mercy and find grace for those for whom we pray. (Isaiah 9:6; 40:29; Hebrews 4:16) 

(Of course at any point in this.. continue on feeling free to inject your own requests, thanks, praise, prayer-burdens, leader's names, worries or needs. It doesn't matter where you live, earnestly pray for your nation and leaders today) 

LORD, we call out to You because You are gracious and righteous and full of compassion...
In our nation and others COVID is surging with illness and death, again overwhelming medical personnel and resources. We call to You to stop the spread of the virus, and until You do, give Your peace to the ill, their families and those treating them. (Psalm 116:5) 

O Lord, help us to seek our refuge in You......
Grant peace to the unemployed and to those who have lost businesses in this economic crisis that has affected so many. Rise to their defense! Stop the contention in congress; lead them to a relief package that is right in Your sight. (Jeremiah 16:19; Psalm 35:23; Daniel 4:27) 

King of heaven, Lord of the whole world...
As citizens of Your kingdom and of our nation, we ask for real revival in the church, and a spiritual awakening everywhere! We ask for an outpouring--let it rain! We ask for a gullywasher of a downpour. We agree and ask for Your peace, and for order in our nation’s election process. Help us and stop all the cheating going on. Enable it to be free from fraud, from weird intimidation and from confusion. Grant us an honorable transition as elected officials are installed. (Daniel 4:37; Zechariah 6:5; Ephesians 2:19; 1 Corinthians 14:33) 

Sovereign LORD, Most High over all the earth...
Let Your peace prevail in the filling of the vacancy on our Supreme Court. Give us a Justice who seeks You for a wise and discerning heart, who holds Your Word in their heart as they weigh their decisions. (Psalm 71:16; 97:9; Isaiah 26:12; 1 Kings 3:12; Deuteronomy 30:14) 

Lord of peace, speak peace to the winds that are blowing through our nation...
As winds of strange doctrines blow through, and winds of natural hurricanes and of wildfires too.. destroy land and lives.. other winds of emotional turmoil rage in many hearts today. Calm the storms. Bind the enemy and his fallen angel thugs here. Speak peace to your people and stop what's deceptive and destructive here. Give us Your discernment so we won't be duped by false teachers. God, we see abuse in families, violent behavior on the streets, and bizarre plots to kidnap government officials. Please stop those funding the violence and riots -- expose them. Help em get caught and properly prosecuted. In mercy, grant us peace in our land. (Leviticus 26:6) 

God our Savior, our hope is in You...

As Your church serves those who are hurting, give us boldness to share the gospel with those whose hearts have been softened by loss. May they believe and receive Christ, that they may have peace with You through Jesus Christ. (Psalm 25:5; Romans 1:16; John 1:12; Romans 5:21) 

In Jesus’ name, amen.

"Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." ~ Martin Luther 

"Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." ~ D.L. Moody

"Rich is the person who has a praying friend." ~ Janice Hughes

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work." ~ Oswald Chamber

"It is true that a prayer that comes from the heart can move mountains, it increases your faith, and brings you closer to God." ~  Rebecca Small

"Prayer is the means of sustaining a faith that at times can grow weak. The power of prayer is enriching, uplifting to hear our God speak." ~  Greta Zwaan

"You know the value of prayer: It is precious beyond all price. Never, never neglect it." ~ Thomas Buxton

"The reason why we obtain no more in prayer is because we expect no more. God usually answers us according to our own hearts." ~ Richard Alleine

"A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a life without power." ~  Edwin Harvey

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, our God is healer, our God is there for you. 
God you are higher than any other person. None compare--none are like you.
Jesus is our wonderful counslor, Savior and Lord--can't brag on Him enough really. His thoughts and ways are higher too. If He is for us (and God is SO for us today), then what or who can stand against us? Null, nothin', no one can. He is our victory. 
What do I personally want to encourage you in? Well, I want to encourage you in prayer and in any other area that you might need. Need me to pray for you? 
I don't need some religion or this world -- nope, just give me Jesus. 
Every day I want to be a re-heated born gain believer in the word and praying in faith. 
Not spiritually cold, not inverted, or distracted, or lukewarm.. not takin' a stride from my Master's side. Nope, but wanna live red hot on-fire for Jesus Christ. 
Father God, turn our nation back to You again. Please refill us with Your Spirit again so we can walk as Jesus walked, so we in love can serve as He served. Yes, so those looking to us for help, can be encouraged, edified, equipped and simply go the distance with Christ. 
It's been quite a year for us huh. Never seen one like this. Me thinks you already are effective prayers... but it's time for you and me to press in closer all the more. It's time for each of us to become experts in biblical praying more than ever before. Yes, more than ever before. You know we could opt to become experts in a lot of things, but look around you. In these last days your friends, family, missionaries and nation need us praying more than ever before.

"And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:15 15
"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11
"Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive."  2 Chronicles 6:21
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."  Ephesians 6:18
"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." Jeremiah 29:12  "You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows."  Job 22:27 (Just meditate upon, memorize, claim, be encouraged by, and take your sweet time in the whole context of these verses) Fish4souls.org

What's up with voting for believers? WWJD?

Voting after praying and studying the issues etc.. is simply showing proper concern for your government, for your Land, for the people and the leadership where you live.

Christians should indeed pray for leaders and go vote.. if they’ve been granted this privilege. Christ would have citizens respectively care about their nations in this way. WWJD? In His day there was no voting because there were kings. No voting on them. The Bible doesn't tell us to vote. Again, there was no voting for rulers when the different books in the Bible were written. So it's left with our opinions after inquiring of God and looking at the principles of the Word. Check out these basic admonitions in the following verses:

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Elections with all the money, laws, delegates, primaries are not always easy to deal with.. for candidate and those who vote. I won't tell you who to vote for but will say keep biblical values in mind. I've been thinking about the value of honesty as well as others. Okay so the Lord would have us pray for leaders, so wouldn’t He commonsenseically also have us to be concerned enough to go put feet to our faith and vote wisely? Sure he would. Jesus wants us to be be salt and light to preserve what’s good on earth.. to use every opportunity to assist in electing the leaders that would be the best ones for protecting the innocent (love…always protects 1 Cor 13), for promoting peace and righteousness in the Land. Yes, Jesus, himself told us to “..Render unto Caesar the things that Caesar”. Our Caesar if you will/our rulers today tell us to and expect us to go vote. 

“And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”Matthew 22:16-21

Caesar was the Roman emperor at that time. He was he governmental leader, so Jesus was telling them they were to pay their taxes, as well as support the work of God. These Scriptures tell us as Christians that we are to be good citizens and pay our taxes as well. As good citizens in our government structure here in the U.S.A., we should not leave the operation of the government to ungodly men or their bad choice men will rule. How can we prevent that? One way is to use our one vote wisely. We will be accountable before God as to how we voted after He gave us this privilege. Another issue will be ..did we spend the time in study and prayer so that we could be prepared in advance to go vote wisely for the proper candidates, as well as the right issues?

As Christians we should consider how the candidates stand on the issues and not get caught in the trap of voting strictly along party lines. 

It’s just wise to check voting records and see which candidates most closely follow Biblical standards. Today we have so many so called “Born again” candidates who say one thing and then get to DC only to change. And they have their ways to create bad bills but then cover themselves by not casting the final vote for it. 

Some Christians just vote the Democratic or after the Republican ticket because their parents voted that way. Stop that. We should vote for the best man or woman for the job. If we have the choice and some times it doesn’t at all look like we do have the choice.. we should not only go for who is qualified for the job, but also go for who is moral and with good character traits. Voting for someone just because they tell us certain things..give big promises.. sound pretty good, but it’s not the way to vote.

Have you ever seen a daughter somewhere, who got hitched due to the boy being a real smooth talker? It happens a lot, and those guys who swayed em with their good sounding words seem to stay flaky. 

These girls end up regretting their choices because the men played on their emotions and the girls later found out the dude had no character. We must live with our choices and living with someone with no character is horrible.. it can even eventually destroys a marriage. 

Without the traits of faithfulness, honesty and unselfishness these marriages usually fail. So it is true with the leaders we elect. 

We must have honest leaders who hate lying instead of using it regularly to get into power. The people are not to be into political dynasties per se (God is no respecter of persons), but should vote for who will be best for the people taking the Scriptures into mind with wise application.. cuz not all do.  That’s what it’s all about ..what Christ cares about during your elections. 

If we are to live in a national environment that will produce peace and harmony and create benefits that will be fair to all equally. No playing favorites. 

The Bible tells us that if a man is not faithful in small things, he will not be faithful in the larger matters. Luke (16:10) told us this: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”

WWJD? What would? WDJD? What Did? To know what He would do, you gotta know what He actually did and didn't do huh. He's the same yesterday, today and forever right. Yes, let's go see again what Jesus did and know. I'm going to this week. 

I know Jesus would first pray, would listen and obey Direct authority (His Father), and.. submit to earthly delegated authorities.. short of sinning. Obeying is important for all of us believers today. Yes, He would wisely appea at times. He would wisely go vote.. right, instead of vote wrong. He’d be prepared to do the most good for the most people who'd allow Him to.. yes, if they’d actually let him help them. What do you mean “wisely go vote right” Kurt? Well, meditate upon these words…

“A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.” Ecclesiastes 10:2

Jesus would stand up against the wickedness in a practical way.

“Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” Proverbs 25:26

Jesus wouldn’t ultimately put his trust in mere men on earth. The Bible says…

“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.” Psalm 146:3-10

It is the duty and responsibility of every Christian to pray and to go vote for leaders who will protect citizens and promote Christian principles. Think about what’s involved in a Land legally where the spreading of the Gospel is allowed and promoted, as well as those who can help in this witnessing arena. God is most certainly in control, but that does not mean that we should do nothing to further His will. He has blessed us with a part to play so to speak. We are commanded to pray for our leaders cuz God cares about them, about the people and about the future of their Land (See 1 Timothy 2:1-4).

If you worship and in love evangelize for Christ.. yes, if you do something really good, guess what.. you’ll soon have opposition.

What will they do at first when you start to act challenging the corruption n status quo? I’ll tell you.. they’ll try to slow, impede, and distract you. They’ll doubt your motives n ask you why you’re doing it? Later, they’ll still wonder about your motives n ask you how you did it! 

If you get the chance just prayerfully tell the corrupt person about Christ and His Gospel. Give them a chance to get right with God right there on the spot. Why? Well, they need to repent and believe God. They need more than anything.. to stop what they are doing wrong and be regenerated cuz this gets to the heart of the issue.

The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.

Ignore the lies of the twisted and tainted. “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he (or she) is enslaved.” 2 Peter 2:19

Leadership, and who is it over you during these last of the last days (you know you are living during your last days huh), is so important. Way too much evil is happening all around us today. Too many innocent people are being beheaded. 

The best way to combat error and wrong around us individually or corporately.. is to overcome it by living and telling the truth. By doing what's right in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the way for a group to change all the corruption in very high (DC), in very low, or in very middle level places around them is to live 100 percent for Christ, to live and spread His good Message. Yes, to get right with God first--you've heard it before "gettin' that log out of the eye, before out of their eye." Hey, my nation (the USA) really needs a spiritual awakening today.. a Christian rather than a mere religious one, a biblical revival instead of a so called TV revival. We need to unify with a decent leader who is uncorrupted inside their mind and heart, one who appropriately and constantly challenges the status quo--what's wrong here.

It's a sad day for the church in America today. You and I are not surprised, but today the U.S. Surpemes approved same-sex marriage in all 50 States...

..which means it will now be open-season for lawsuits against Christian-owned companies and local churches across the Land. Any gay couple (that we of course all need to continue to show love towards..) can now march into any church anywhere here, and demand to have their wedding there, and then there will be huge legal pressure put on the pastors to compromise what God has clearly told them.. told us all. It's so wrong. Guess what, it's become a day for Civil Disobedience when the Judges, the political leaders, the State commands Christians to disobey the clear teachings of the Bible. 

Oh, Christians will of course go on worshiping their Lord whole-heartedly, learning from the Bible to wisely apply it, and even as an outgrowth of Christ's strength and joy in them.. be boldly spreading their faith. We should and need to honor the Lord. He never quit, but I also know that many local Christian churches already live on the razor's edge financially (they are never to give an over emphasis to people giving support) so it would obviously appear to me that countless local churches soon won't be there happening as they did before. Will it get more like the Church in China here? 

http://kurtwvs.tumblr.com/post/122500521748/a-bomb-goes-off-and-another-man-is-decapitated