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Get Your Free Prayer Resources Today

 Get Your Free Prayer Resources Today

We find ourselves in a very difficult season when earnest prayers are needed more than ever.

The time is ripe to pray better for ourselves, family members, friends, church leaders, and those in the news.  

Like so many others I have felt overwhelmed by the bad news that has been coming for months. The future seems uncertain and that can prompt fear. But during these stormy circumstances God has not changed, the Bible has not changed, and the options to pray have not changed. 

I have been doing my best to keep up with the latest development in the news. I have been considering reports of our chaotic current events as well as commentaries. I have attempted to consider various perspectives about controversial topics. But this has been emotionally exhausting. I have had to battle with not sliding into depression and hopelessness. 

All of us have strengths and weaknesses. Some of these came as part of our personality from birth and others came due to our experiences and education. I know that cooking is not one of my strengths. My brother cooks much better than me and he likes it. I like to do research and write. Those are my strengths. 

As a retired person I have more time to research and write than those that are not retired. 

Over the decades I have felt guided by God to prepare and share general prayer guides. I have posted the text of those documents on this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/344100079340999 And if you like those then I can send you the PDF version for your convenience. Just let me know. 

I believe that lots of Christians want to pray better just like I do. All they lack is just a little guidance. Then as they begin to pray better their heart and mind will take them into new frontiers of prayer for the glory of God.

I have been doing research on a general prayer guide related to the recent news. During my research I encountered the following free resources. These are useful for the short term as well as the long term.

These links go to downloads of PDFs that you can read on your computer or print out. You can put the print outs with your Bible, near your bed, and or take them with you. Consider making time and getting away from distractions, interruptions, children, and responsibilities. You can go on a kind of  personal prayer retreat at a public park or in your vehicle parked in a safe location. Some of my best prayer times were in the chapel of a hospital. 

These resources can be used with your spouse and or children. 

After some practice these can be used as you go for a prayer walk. 

  

What follows are links to an abundance of free prayer resources. Also there are links to some prayer resources that have a small price for small units. You can choose the titles that appeal to you. This is like buying one or more books on prayer by only purchasing the chapters that appeal to you. 

RESOURCES

The free prayer resources come from Tandem Prayer https://www.tandemprayer.org/ 

Prayer Tips

https://www.tandemprayer.org/collections/prayer-tips?sort_by=best-selling 

Power Lines

https://www.tandemprayer.org/collections/power-lines?sort_by=best-selling 

Praying for Our Nation in Crisis - a new one is added each week

https://www.tandemprayer.org/collections/prayer-guides-for-a-nation-in-crisis?sort_by=best-selling 

Attached are examples of Prayer Tips, Power Lines, and Praying for Our Nation in Crisis for you to get right away. Then you can know what you are getting when you use the previous links to get more to guide your prayers both now and later. 

Also they offer very short videos. 

On their website

https://www.tandemprayer.org/pages/videos 

More on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIHxZP17ni_Kxt858Zbd5ZQ/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid 

For a very small price you can enjoy some of the following.

Devotional Prayer Journals

https://www.tandemprayer.org/collections/prayer-journals 

Prayer Guides

https://www.tandemprayer.org/collections/guides?sort_by=best-selling 

Prayer Studies

https://www.tandemprayer.org/collections/prayer-studies-for-small-groups?sort_by=best-selling 

CONCLUSION 

Before the madness of this year remember that there have been all kinds of attacks in the media on Christianity. There has been a gradual decline in moral standards demonstrated by the celebrities. The teachings in the public schools have become more hostile to biblical values. In order to stand up against these trends and to reverse the tide it is necessary that many more Christians pray better. That includes you and me. 

I have witnessed that some of those people that are the most effective in prayer are involved in a prayer group and or they have a prayer partner. By using these resources as a start you can begin a prayer partnership or begin a prayer group online. 

You are invited to not only get these prayer resources and use them but also to forward this email to others. Who are the most prayerful people you know? Who are the missionaries, pastors, and church leaders that might like these?

Surely in the future the lockdown conditions will decrease. There will be a return to a much more busy lifestyle. So now is the time to invest in learning to pray better. Surely praying better will yield great returns for all the years to come. 

Finally please pray for me. I have invested hours in the research and writing of a general guide as a response to the news. I guess that I am more than halfway done. There have been times when the blessings of God were on me. Time dissolved as I was in the groove of the creative flow. May it be completed soon. Then may God guide me in wisely sharing it with many who are ready for those inputs.  

Please open the attachments right away. Then save them and print them for your use soon. Make time to explore the links and bookmark the ones you like best. Plus buy the ones that resonate with you as well as  those you want to share with others. Do not procrastinate. In our busy lives there are lots of distractions and interruptions to take us away from our spiritual growth. So take a small stand now and set an intention to pray better using these and other resources.  

Shalom

John S. Oliver

P. S. If you know of other prayer resources that you would recommend then please inform me by responding to this email. Those could go out in the revised version of this message. 

Please Help Me to Help Others

When the coronavirus first appeared I sent out a general prayer guideline. Then after there were developments I sent out an updated prayer guide.

It feels like it is time to write and send out a general prayer guideline about our current events. 

You can help me by praying for me as I begin to do the writing. Also you can help by making recommendations of related Bible verses for each category. 

My challenge is to make this non political. I know people from a wide range of political persuasions. May what I share be neutral and objective. 

We need to unify in prayer and let go of our differences during these critical times.

What follows are the general categories of the prayer guide I hope to share soon. And there might be a few more categories as the Holy Spirit leads me. 

FIRES

Prayers for the people, homes, animals, and businesses. The people include the fire fighters, residents, law enforcement officers, and arsonists. 

PROTESTS and RIOTS

This is a tangled mess. There are genuinely peaceful protesters. Then there are outside agitators that bring hate and hostility. This can lead to damage of property, looting, and burning of businesses. Plus there are those residents, shoppers, those driving by, and diners that get caught in the crossfire so they can become collateral damage. There are the police officers and firefighters that come to the scene.    

ELECTION and AFTERMATH

There have been heated words about mail-in voting. There have been threats of increased violence if the election results do not please certain parties. Only God can keep this from becoming horrible.   

CHILDREN, PARENTS, and TEACHERS

Children are tender and impressionable. The violence in the news as well as the shutdown, masks, and social distancing is impacting their dear souls. Let us pray for them as well as the parents and teachers who interact with them during these troubling times.

PASTORS and CHURCH LEADERS

How to request prayers for these who are on the front lines of ministering to Christians. This includes their ongoing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Guidance from the Bible, wise advisers, and the Holy Spirit. Strength and endurance as they work in harmony with other ministers. 

Surely there is plenty here to get you started in praying. Yet what I want to offer will improve this and include suitable Bible verses. 

Please pray for quickly as soon as you finish reading this and later as the Holy Spirit prompts you.

Shalom

John

How to Thank God Better Each Day

The Bible tells us to be anxious for nothing but instead pray with THANKSGIVING in Philippians 4:6-7 https://biblehub.com/philippians/4-6.htm 

We are told to give thanks in ALL things in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 https://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-18.htm 

Then in Ephesians 5:19-20 we are told to sing to the Lord and ALWAYS give thanks to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. https://biblehub.com/ephesians/5-20.htm 

SO for me to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only according to James 1:22 https://biblehub.com/james/1-22.htm THEN I MUST find ways to weave GENUINE thanks to God into my DAILY life. Thanks to God is not just for Thanksgiving Day or Sundays. 

At 67 years old I have found that there are hundreds of ordinary things to thank God for as I move around in my daily life. 

I am old enough to remember a time before laptops, smart phones, personal printers, the Internet, microwave ovens, ATM machines, online shopping, streaming movies, PDFs, email, etc. SOMETIMES when I use these modern conveniences I silently THANK GOD in my mind. I receive these as good and perfect gifts from God https://biblehub.com/james/1-17.htm 

I recall that my grandparents did not have air conditioning or refrigerators when they were children. SO that reminds me to be grateful for those devices.

When I was a child we could buy fruits and vegetables when they were in season. All those items were only shipped from the region. Yet these days a person can buy watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, and more all year. I SOMETIMES thank God for the amazing international shipping that makes that possible. 

I like to eat fish yet I live far inland. I can easily buy a bag of frozen fish fillets. Then I can eat fish any day without doing the fishing or needing to clean the fish each time. That is a huge blessing. 

Recently  I have become sick and tired of the excessive violence in the movies and TV shows. So in my search for alternatives I have historic dramas and documentaries that are enjoyable and I do not need to close my eyes during the fight scenes of violent shows. 

Watching shows about history has led me to thank God for light bulbs, flush toilets, hot water heaters, and other  items that our ancestors did not have.

Today I thanked God that I can eat honey without needing to go harvest it from bee hives in the wild when I would be stung,  

I am forever grateful to God that he led others to provide us with duct tape and WD40. These have helped me in ways nothing else can. 

Finally as I watch shows about history I notice the kinds of medicines they had more than 100 years ago. That leads me to THANK GOD for each of over the counter medicines as well as prescription drugs and nutritional supplements that I take. I pray each time before I take my daily nutritional supplements. 

At the end of the day the glass is BOTH half full and half empty. My choice is to THANK GOD for the way that the glass is half full with blessing from Him. Then I have less energy to whine, complain, or be anxious about the half emptiness. 

I hope this helps you to genuinely thank God better and more.

I invite your comments about what you thank God for in your daily life. 

Please Pray for My Eyes

There have been pains in my right eye that have come and gone.

At this point, I feel that it is nothing to be alarmed about. But I can use your best prayers.

There is a context for this. 

Many months ago I began to have deposits on my eyelashes day and night. 

I have been using medicated eye drops that I bought over the counter named Zaditor.

An eye doctor friend advised me to put warm compresses on my eyes and then wash them with baby shampoo. I use an eye mask with silicon balls that I heat in the microwave oven before putting it on my eyes. That has helped greatly. 

Then this new pain comes and goes.

It has been on my right eye near the inside. It was red and puffy. Thankfully it has gotten better.

I do not know if it would be best to just wait and let my body heal naturally. Or if I need to go see an eye doctor. Thankfully I have health insurance. But I do not have a car so I would need to get a ride from a neighbor. 

I seek God for wisdom and guidance. 

I will contact my eye doctor friend again.

I have paused to review my priorities.

First I pray privately and wait for my body to heal.

If pains continue then I request prayers.

I want home remedies and/or nutritional supplements next.

Then if necessary I am willing to take prescription drugs.

The final option for me is surgery. 

This is a wake-up call for me to be grateful for the eyesight that I had taken for granted.

Thankfully prayers about my abdomen led to a simple home remedy that worked well.

I believe that Jesus Christ can heal me just by answering prayers. That has happened many times in my past. 

Also, the Lord can lead me in what to do or who to consult.

I trust that God cares about me and will guide me to the best solution to this problem.

Besides relief for this short term pain by my right eye, I believe God can guide me to addressing the cause of the other eye issue. 

Shalom

John

Abdominal Pains Leading to My Gallbladder Flush

Abdominal Pains Leading to My Gallbladder Flush

On Thursday, July 9 I experienced major abdominal pains that were so bad that I was considering going to the Emergency Room.  

But first I asked my neighbors to pray for me. I especially requested wisdom from God about what to do or not do. 

Soon afterward I vomited several times. That brought a huge relief. But I was weak to the point of feeling frail.

The day before I had sent out a prayer request about all kinds of strange symptoms.

The day after that the abdominal pain continued but much less than before. I was still weak.

Until recently I was so weak that after a few hours of activity I needed to take a nap to recharge. And I did that several times a day. 

The best relief came from putting a heating pad on my tummy.

I have had nearly zero interest in eating. For several days all I wanted to eat was yogurt, jello, and bone broth. Everything else in my refrigerator and pantry was as appealing as rocks.  

I searched the Internet to compare my symptoms to those listed.

I do not believe I have covid-19. I do not have a cough, fever, or shortness of breath.

I do not believe I have appendix troubles. 

The pains have been in the middle of my abdomen between my navel and sternum. 

My symptoms best match those for gallbladder stones. 

For weeks before these pains suddenly happened I had been eating far more ice cream than usual. 

Last year I had gone on the keto diet strictly for 90 days. Then I made a few minor modifications like I would eat one container of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream each month. I just liked to have a small taste every few days. 

But along came the riots and the crazy reactions to that by all kinds of people. I did my best to not get disturbed. I was aware that it was the intake of the news that was bothering me so I tried to decrease that. 

Yet what happened is that I went to Blue Bell Natural Vanilla Bean ice cream with premium chocolate sauce as my comfort food. I was aware I was escaping but I did not care. Soon I was eating an entire half-gallon of ice cream every 4 days. I did that for about 2 weeks before the strange symptoms happened followed my the abdominal pains. 

Online some websites say just have the gallbladder removed. But I do not want to rush to surgery. 

I believe that God did not give me an extra organ to easily dispose of when there is some pain. 

I am not against all surgeries. I just view that as a last resort and not a first resort.

There are various articles and videos online about doing a gallbladder flush. Some details vary but this is what most have in common. And it is what I am doing.

Drink apple juice with apple cider vinegar and lemon juice for 6 days. Then on the evening of the sixth day drink a half cup of olive oil plus a glass of water with Epsom salts. Later drink more water with Epsom salts. I started on Sunday so this will be Friday night for me to drink olive oil. 

Then the gallbladder stones will pass into the toilet the next day. 

Gradually return to normal eating. 

These sites recommend nutritional supplements that will help to break down the gallbladder stones and prevent them from forming. Those nutritional supplements include milk thistle, turmeric, choline, and purified bile salts. 

I have made an Amazon Wish List with those nutritional supplements.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3R41QWFEGNH07?ref_=wl_share 

I request your best prayers.

Please pray for a successful gallbladder flush on Saturday. May most of the gall stones be removed from my body on that day. If there are more gall stones then may God make a way for them to be dissolved and be removed.

May God make a way for me to receive the nutritional supplements on the Amazon Wish List by raising up those who will buy them from the website or give me the money for them.

May the Lord Jesus Christ guide me in how to be moderate in my intake of the news as well as commentaries. May I have an accurate understanding of what is really happening without spending too much time or energy to keep up with current events. 

May God work deeply in me to best understand and interpret what is really happening nationally and internationally.

May the Lord lead my prayers and intercessions in the light of the major changes all around us.

May God help me to stay focused on the creative projects that will be in service to others. May God continue to bring together my previous research and lessons with new understandings on mind maps. These will become educational modules with the cooperation of others. 

I always pray for wisdom and request intercessions for wisdom. The book of Proverbs in chapters 3 and 4 teaches that wisdom is the most valuable thing to desire. When a person has wisdom then all kinds of great things follow. Then in James 1:2-8 in the context of great difficulty God will give His wisdom when we just ask in faith. That is yet another demonstration of the amazing grace of God.

THANKS again for ALL your prayers.

Shalom

John

a sumary

I call myself a Teaching Learner.

I am retired at 67 years old. 

I invest most of my time online researching, writing, and sharing.

For years I have been researching, planning, and preparing for an online ministry named Let's Pray Better.

I have been an agnostic, Then came alcohol, drugs, and rehab.

I have moved around much and I have been a member of all kinds of churches of about a dozen denominations. 

I have been the only white member of a black church in Houston and in a small town south of Dallas.

I feel deeply disappointed that local churches, Bible Colleges, and seminaries do not teach even the basics of prayer. Yet in reality that is what people need every day.

I have prayed hundreds of times Lord teach me to pray. He has and I have a long way to go.