Women of Prayer
By: Ja Juanna Ogborn
In an article titled, “A Season” the author, Lisa Marshall, reminisces of a time when saints spent many hours praying, spending a season of prayer with the Lord. Then, things evolved and prayer was just a time spent with the Lord. She says that now it seems we only pause to have a word with the Lord. Prayer has gone from a SEASON, to a TIME, to a WORD.
We all know that there are times when all we can do is say a word of prayer. I work in an office on a computer all day and there have been times that I just laid my hand on my computer and said, “In the name of Jesus, Satan I command you to come out of this computer!” Y’all know what I mean. But that can’t be the only time of prayer that I spend with the Lord.
As women, we have been given a responsibility. That responsibility, that obligation, that duty (Bro. Kimsey preached on duty the other night), is to be a Titus 2 woman. The older women are to teach the younger women. We must set an example and I believe that it must begin with prayer.
We’ve all knelt down before the Lord and the phone rings, or the distractions from day-to-day come to mind, or our mind wanders. Maybe you feel like you don’t know how to pray. My little brother preached here at the beginning of the year and he said that our mother told him one time if you don’t know what to say when you’re praying, just say “JESUS.” Say it over and over and over again. There’s power and authority in that name!
One lady that I feel really knows how to pray (and I’m not here to embarrass her) is Sis. Marlene Case. I’ve sat beside her in the prayer room and it’s not like I was trying to listen, but I just couldn’t help myself. Her prayers just flowed. I found myself saying, “Yes, Lord, what she said Lord,” because she was praying the things that I wanted to pray, but I just couldn’t find the right words. The kind of prayer that I hear her pray comes from spending many seasons in prayer.
One night about 2 years ago, I was in the prayer room and I heard Lynelle Roberts praying before church. It was exuberance in the prayer room that night. Everybody was praying out loud, not in hushed tones. And Lynelle said, “Lord, let the Holy Ghost fall like a rushing, mighty wind.” If she said that prayer one time, she said it one hundred times. And the Holy Ghost fell that night. That’s what the power of prayer can do.
I’m very blessed to have praying women in my life. Both of my grandmothers were prayer warriors and that has filtered down to my mother and my aunts. What a legacy my cousins and I can leave when we get on our knees and touch God.
I don’t want the stars of Hollywood to be the role-model for the young girls of our church. Bro. Kimsey said the other night when he preached on duty: Anything other than duty is immaturity. I don’t want to be an immature Christian woman. I’m not a young girl or a young lady anymore. I’ve got a torch to carry on. I must become a Titus 2 woman. The very lives of our future Titus 2 young ladies are dependent on it.
You see:
Baby Girls turn into Little Girls and Little Girls turn into Big Girls and Big Girls turn into Tweens and Tweens turn into Teenage Girls and Teenage Girls turn into Young Ladies and Young Ladies turn into Young Women and Young Women turn into Middle-Aged Women and Middle-Aged Women should become Seasoned Women.
As godly women we must be a role-model. There are times that we may be the only example that some young ladies see. Can you think back to your younger days and think of any women that made an impact in your life? I can. My two grandmothers, Sis. Bertha Coody & Sis. Pearl Chelette, my mother, Robbie Evans, my aunts, Velma Gass, Lorraine Moore, Reba McManus, Patsy Hall, Annette Chelette, Louise Chelette, & Gwen Chelette, others include: Mary Whited, Ruby Willingham, Leoma Gass, Lille Mae Coody, Dorothy Brooks, Pebble Moore, Lorraine Bennett, Theo Cupp, Doris Malone, Cindy Malone, Debbie Camp, Patsy Brooks, Linda Brocato, Becky Bowen, and the list goes on and on. I can think of at least one thing from each of these ladies that exemplifies a Titus 2 woman. Will you be on someone’s godly woman list one day? I hope I am.
On the CD “Woman Thou Art Loosed, Worship 2000” Bishop T.D. Jakes says that Praise is when you give God thanks because you have shoes, and a house, and money to buy groceries, and a job. And we’ve got lots to Praise God for. We’ve got a beautiful church, with wonderful saints, tremendous pastors and pastors’ wives. But Worship is when you Praise God even if you don’t have shoes, or a house, or money to buy groceries, or a job. That’s true worship. When you Praise God just because he’s GOD. Not for what he’s done for you, but just BECAUSE. Another CD that I have from “The Anointed Pace Sisters” has a song called, “God’s World.” One of the phrases of the song is: from Prayer to Praise & from Praise to Worship. You can’t get to true Praise & Worship without prayer.
May God bless the women of The Sanctuary of Praise to be the women that He intended us to become. Women of power, authority, godliness, and most of all Women of Prayer.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Why Give?
The Apostle Paul speaking to a group of Ephesian elders in Acts 20:32 reminded them of his faithfulness to the ministry, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than receive.’” Paul had a clear understanding that the gospel is propagated through giving.
Pastor Kimsey has challenged us from the Word of God to give, a challenge which is empowered by the Holy Spirit and the testimony of Scripture. So why should we give?
First, the Bible models it, over and over again when giving is exemplified it is rewarded. The principle of the New Testament is to give and give generously. A common characteristic of the early church is revealed in Acts 4:34-35 “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” If we are to be Apostolic then we must give. The Old Testament gives us the principle of the tithe, but the New Testament, while confirming that principle, challenges us to move beyond obligation to generosity. Jesus challenged the religious leaders of his day in Matthew 23:23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” True justice, mercy and faithfulness necessitate stewardship and generosity.
Next, I give because by doing so; I participate in the ministry of the gospel. As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 9 in his defense of gospel workers being remunerated for their service, “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense, who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit, or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.’ Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?” Paul then goes on to point out in verse 15, “But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision….What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.” The Apostle clearly links giving with the propagation of the gospel. When you and I give we participate with every ministry at the Sanctuary of Praise and beyond.
Finally, by giving I leave a legacy and example for my children and grandchildren. It is always important to remind ourselves that the Kingdom of God is greater than ourselves and will extend far beyond our lifetime and influence. If I want my children to know the joy of a life lived unselfishly then I must exemplify it before them.
In conclusion, my brothers and sisters at the Sanctuary of Praise, my pledge to you is that from this point forward my family and I join with yours in giving in support of our church, our ministries, our building and ultimately the Kingdom of God which knows no end. To God be the glory!
Pastor Kimsey has challenged us from the Word of God to give, a challenge which is empowered by the Holy Spirit and the testimony of Scripture. So why should we give?
First, the Bible models it, over and over again when giving is exemplified it is rewarded. The principle of the New Testament is to give and give generously. A common characteristic of the early church is revealed in Acts 4:34-35 “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” If we are to be Apostolic then we must give. The Old Testament gives us the principle of the tithe, but the New Testament, while confirming that principle, challenges us to move beyond obligation to generosity. Jesus challenged the religious leaders of his day in Matthew 23:23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” True justice, mercy and faithfulness necessitate stewardship and generosity.
Next, I give because by doing so; I participate in the ministry of the gospel. As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 9 in his defense of gospel workers being remunerated for their service, “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense, who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit, or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.’ Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?” Paul then goes on to point out in verse 15, “But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision….What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.” The Apostle clearly links giving with the propagation of the gospel. When you and I give we participate with every ministry at the Sanctuary of Praise and beyond.
Finally, by giving I leave a legacy and example for my children and grandchildren. It is always important to remind ourselves that the Kingdom of God is greater than ourselves and will extend far beyond our lifetime and influence. If I want my children to know the joy of a life lived unselfishly then I must exemplify it before them.
In conclusion, my brothers and sisters at the Sanctuary of Praise, my pledge to you is that from this point forward my family and I join with yours in giving in support of our church, our ministries, our building and ultimately the Kingdom of God which knows no end. To God be the glory!
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