Lubbock PRAYNow

Pray Lubbock Pastors Newsletter

Vol. 3 No. 6 June 2001

Prayer Summit Indicates Next Level -- Up and Down

It seems the Lord is speaking to us about moving to two different levels: 1) a level lower in humility, brokenness and repentance, and 2) a level higher in determining to continue doing the things we have been called to do in order for God to usher in the ultimate transformation of our city. Over thirty pastors of the city gathered at Church on the Rock last month for Pray Lubbock’s seventh prayer summit. It was a great time of prayer, worship, and waiting on the Lord.

The morning session led to a time of repentance and seeking forgiveness. We prayed for humility as congregations, desiring to regard other congregations as more important than our own (Phil. 2:4). The afternoon led to a time of being quiet before the Lord and writing what we sense the Lord trying to say to us. We also listed strongholds that we are up against over the city. The session of declaring God’s promises over our city was a powerful corporate prayer time.

The evening ended with a meal with spouses. Rocky Long cooked prime rib for 45 guests and we all feasted on the meal and great fellowship. Our next Pastors Prayer Summit will be September 13-14 with Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church, Colorado Springs, CO. Mark your calendars!

Prayer Meeting this Month

Our prayer time this month will include a praise report from Pastor Field Bennings regarding the answer to prayers we prayed at last month’s prayer summit (see “Healing Blessing” article on next page). We will also pray for our city with regard to the Port-to-Plains Freeway and all of the options this opens to our city. Don’t miss this chance to pray with and for other spiritual leaders of the city. A free lunch will follow at Vandelia Church (2002 60^th) at 1:15, provided by The Olive Garden.

Citywide Fellowship Meal

We continue to facilitate the uniting of congregations across our city monthly. On Wednesday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m., Aldersgate, City View, Live Oak, St. Paul’s Episcopal, Salvation Ministries, and Sixth Street Baptist, Brownfield, will sponsor a covered dish fellowship meal at Live Oak Community Church, 10710 S. Frankford.

Civic and Spiritual Leaders Unite!

Last month’s pastors prayer time would have to rank among the top experiences, even though we have had some great times of prayer at the Metro Tower in the past. After April’s prayer time with Bill Sowder, our District Attorney, he asked for permission to invite some of his friends. The response was amazing. We had the DA and four from his staff, the sheriff and chief deputy, three judges and three Department of Public Saftey officers. The meeting closed with a powerful time of praying for each office and the representatives from that office. You may see pictures of this prayer meeting.

Lighthouse Coordinators Signaled

We still need lighthouse coordinators to better organize our prayer efforts over the city. Neighborhood-based lighthouse coordinators will help map city lighthouses, promote fellowship and encouragement, initiate prayers walks, and ensure adequate prayer coverage of neighborhood schools, churches, businesses, etc. If this sounds like an opportunity for someone in your congregation, please let us know.

Pray for One Another

You may already lead your congregation on Sunday in praying for sister congregations in our city. If so, imagine the strength of your prayers if you were uniting your prayers with other congregations in praying for local churches on your prayer list. In an effort to facilitate this united prayer effort, here are suggested prayer targets for the next five weeks:

June 24 Oakwood United Methodist Church

July 1 Quaker Avenue Church of Christ

July 8 Raintree Christian Church

July 15 Salvation Ministries

July 22 Shepherd King Lutheran Church

July 29 Smith Temple

Sixth Citywide Prayer Walk

June 21, 2001, 6:30 p.m.

Prayer for Ballinger Neighborhood

Begin at Salvation Ministries

1122 45th (corner of K and 45th)

Come to pray down walls and against specific gang activity in that area of the city!

Prayers for You as a Pastor

We published the first twenty of a list of prayers for pastors written by Terry Teykl, based on Scripture, in previous issues of this newsletter. Last month, when we printed prayers 11-20, we got several requests for the first ten. Here are ten more. If you appreciate these prayers, you may want to get a copy of the book referenced below. Also, the full list of 40 prayers can be found on our website: www.praylubbock.com.

21. Send the spirit of prayer upon my pastor (Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:26). Send others to join praying for him/her (I Tim. 2:1-8).

22. Lord, keep my pastor in the fear of God. Let my pastor not fear people (Prov. 19:23). Give boldness to confront sin and church controllers. Honor my pastor’s stand for You. Come to my pastor’s rescue. I claim Psalm 35 for my shepherd.

23. Lord, use my pastor to renew our denomination (Prov. 18:16). Use my pastor in an effective way to promote evangelism and holiness. Grant favor for fruitfulness. Keep my pastor from meetings for the sake of meetings. Redeem the time so as to use my pastor’s abilities in the most productive manner.

24. Lord, give my pastor favor with his or her peers (Prov. 11:4). Keep my pastor from comparing him or herself with other pastors, churches or salary packages. Guard my pastor’s heart from competition and unhealthy ambitions (2 Cor. 10:18). Deliver him/her from the numbers trap, and give my pastor a genuine concern for lost souls (Luke 19:10). Lord, You advance my pastor. Let my pastor not be caught up in any political quicksand; keep only Jacob’s ladder, not a career ladder, before my pastor (Gen. 28:12).

25. Jesus, dominate my shepherd’s ministry to make people become like You and not a denominational facsimile (Col. 1:28).

26. Give my shepherd deep convictions and moral stands to reflect Your holiness (Prov. 4:20-27). Let my pastor not compromise truth, yet spread truth in love to address all social injustice and prejudice of any kind.

27. Let my pastor trust in the Lord whole-heartedly. In all my pastor’s ways may You be acknowledged and, therefore, my pastor’s paths be made straight (James1:5).

28. Bless my pastor with rich study time (Acts 6:4; 2 Tim. 2:15).

29. As my pastor preaches, let him or her proclaim Jesus Christ (Col. 1:28). Let my pastor’s preaching be in the energy of the Holy Spirit. May we be presented to You, Father, holy and blameless as a result of my pastor’s preaching.

30. Jesus, bless my pastor’s preaching. Let my pastor preach Jesus Christ. Let my pastor preach a revelation of Christ (1 Peter 1:7). And give my pastor ample opportunities to proclaim You (Col. 4:3-4).

-- Excerpted from Your Pastor: Preyed On or Prayed For by Terry Teykl

Summit Brings Healing Blessing

Field Bennings, pastor of The ACTS Church, came the evening of the prayer summit expressly for prayer. Field had a short hospital stay, 10 days prior to the summit, with a racing heart and shortness of breath. After having completed two stress tests, the doctor had him scheduled for surgery the following Wednesday with the intent of placing a stint, doing angioplasty, or, worst case scenario, open heart surgery -- whatever the scope and x-rays deemed necessary.

The Lord was telling Field to come to the pastors for prayer, so he came. We agreed in prayer with him for a healing which would require no surgical procedures. We gathered around, laid on hands, and three or four of us voiced prayers while the rest intently prayed. Field then sat down and enjoyed prime rib with the rest of us.

Field called the Pray Lubbock office three days later to report the miracle! After praise and specific prayer in the hospital room, under the hand of Jim Robinson, Field felt the Lord restoring and clearing the arteries around his heart. An hour later the doctor, after reading the x-rays, declared that Field's heart and the arteries were perfectly normal! The doctor sent him home with instructions to rest for a day or two and come back in two weeks. The doctor was mystified by the obvious facts before him -- confirmed racing heart and CAT scan images showing blockages, stress tests confirming problems one week previous, and no sign of problems currently.

We want to join Field in giving praise to God for this answer to prayer in our midst!

Uniting Local Church Prayer Leaders

City-Focused Prayer List Circulates

For nearly two years, Steve Doles has been updating a prayer list of issues pertinent to the citywide church and Pray Lubbock’s mission. This list has been shared at prayer meetings held on the 2^nd and 4^th Saturday mornings at Indiana Avenue Baptist (old campus). That meeting continues to take place, but, in addition, we are now e-mailing and FAXing that prayer list to local church prayer leaders. If you would like for the prayer group in your congregation to pray for citywide concerns, please contact our office with an e-mail address or FAX number we can use to circulate this list.

To encourage the networking of local church prayer groups across a city, there will be a conference sponsored by the National Association of Local Church Prayer Leaders. PrayerQuake will be held in Mesa, AZ, 27-30 June. At this time, we know of LaJean Williams of Lubbock (City View) who will be attending. If someone from your congregation plans to attend, please contact our office so we can connect the conferees beforehand. Pray for the blessing of united, passionate intercession for our city from dedicated pray-ers.

Pray Lubbock Pastors Newsletter is published monthly,

Steve Doles, editor.

Pray Lubbock is located on the 19^th floor of the Metro Tower,

1220 Broadway, Suite 1905A, Lubbock, Texas 79401.

Office hours: Tue. & Thurs. 8:30-5:00

Voice phone: (806) 749-PRAY Office FAX: (806) 749-2533

Steve's mobile: (806) 787-7551 steve@praylubbock.com

Visit our website: www.praylubbock.com