How to Pray In Jesus’ Name

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.”
- John 14:1

Jesus’ disciples had left everything to follow Him. They’d left their jobs and their families and had risked their lives repeatedly over the last three years to stick by Jesus’ side.

Now, at the Last Supper, they had learned that one of their own was going to betray Jesus, and that their lead apostle, Peter, was going to deny Jesus three times. But what worried them the most was Jesus’ plan to leave them—to go who knows where to do who knows what. How on earth could the disciples NOT have troubled hearts? 

Well, according to Jesus, the remedy for their troubled hearts was … trust. One the very night He was arrested, Jesus told them, “Trust in God; trust also in Me” (John 14:1). In this verse, Jesus revealed a beautiful, simple truth: The secret to having a heart at peace is just to trust God. That was true 2,000 years ago, and it’s just as true today. Whatever appearances might suggest, Jesus Christ will never let you down. You can trust Him. You should trust Him.

In verses 12-14, Jesus tells his apostles that after He returns to heaven, they will do “even greater things” than what He Himself had done. And secondly, He tells them that He “will do whatever [they] ask in His name.” Now, don’t misunderstand or twist what Jesus is saying here. Sadly, many people believe in a “prosperity” Gospel, which portrays Jesus as a kind of genie in the lamp. You rub the lamp by using the magic phrase “in Jesus’ name”; you tell Jesus what you want, and if you have enough faith, He will give it to you.

But notice what Jesus gives as the reason why He answers our prayers: “to bring glory to the Father” (v. 13). So, let’s tackle this important question: How can we pray in Jesus’ name?

Guideline #1: Begin your prayers with Jesus’ interests in the forefront of your mind. Chuck Swindoll says it this way: “More often than not, we do not pray in the interests of Jesus’ plans…. In our immaturity, we seek our own interests and for what will improve our situations…. Jesus promised that as we discover the will of God & align our prayers to fulfill His purposes, our prayers will become as powerful as His own.”

Guideline #2: End your prayers with “Your will be done.” Just as we should begin our prayers with Jesus’ will in mind, we should end our prayers with Jesus’ will in mind. In fact, the prayer for God’s will to be done is ALWAYS answered. So, go ahead and ask God to take away your cancer and to bless you with a better job and to protect your kids at school and work. But end your prayers with “Your will be done.” In other words, “God, if I’ve prayed for anything that’s outside Your will, please just scratch that request. Ultimately, I just want Your will to be done.”

Guideline #3: Pray what Jesus Himself would pray—for God the Father to be glorified in your life and in the lives of those around you. You are a servant of Jesus Christ and a soldier for Jesus Christ. So, as you live your life, say what He would say. Do what He would do. And pray what He would pray. Ultimately, that’s what it means to pray in Jesus’ name—to pray exactly what Jesus would pray to the Father if He were in your shoes. 

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Pastor Dane’s new daily devotional, “40 Days in Proverbs,” is now available on Amazon.com. Join us on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley, or livestream us on Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Four Steps to a Better Prayer

“This, then, is how you should pray.” – Matthew 6:9a

It was about 23 years ago. I had been a pastor for only a month or two, and I remember saying to myself, “Dane, what were you thinking when you took this job?”

I didn’t say that because I wanted to jump ship. This church was great. But the reality had hit me: I was 25 years old, trying to teach God’s word to a group of people, most of whom were older than myself. And many of them had been Christians twice as long as I’d been alive! How could I possibly teach them anything?

Good question. And God gave me an even better answer: “No matter how old someone is in the church, I am much older. And no matter how wise someone is in the Church, My Word is wiser. So if you stick to prayerfully teaching My powerful word, your age will be irrelevant.” What a marvelous insight that was to this young, insecure pastor. And it was during that early season of ministry that God taught me to pray—really pray. Learning to lean on God through prayer helped me do a task that was far too big and far too hard for me to do on my own. As a bonus, my relationship with God became much closer and more meaningful.

Do you long for that? Do you want to partner with God to do things that you could never accomplish on your own? Do you want your relationship with Christ to be closer than it’s ever been? Well, prayer is the key.

Not sure how to pray? Just take a look at Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 6:5-15. It’s usually called “The Lord’s Prayer,” but a more fitting name for it would be “The Disciples’ Prayer,” since Jesus gave it to us as an example to follow. And there’s a simple recipe based on this prayer that you can use right away to make your personal prayer times more enjoyable and more impactful. It’s easy to remember because it’s spelled out in four little letters: P-R-A-Y.

The “P” in PRAY stands for PRAISE. We all have times when we’re in crisis and don’t have time to pray anything but “God, help! Help!” But as a rule of thumb, just as The Lord’s Prayer begins with praise and adoration, so too should our prayers. Before we get into the “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” petitions within our prayers, we should spend some time praising God for who He is and thanking Him for what He’s done.        

The “R” in PRAY stands for REPENT. Honestly, confession and repentance are almost non-existent in our prayers. When we DO remember to ask for forgiveness, we say something very short and vague like, “Lord, forgive us for the things we did today that made your heart sad.” Well, that’s a start. But if our personal prayer times are going to be more powerful, we can’t be vague or half-hearted when bringing our sins to God. He takes our sins very seriously, and so should we. We know that in Christ, our sins are forgiven. But that’s beside the point. As we talk with God, we should grieve for our sins—our foul language, our bad tempers, our lustful thoughts, our lack of love and respect to our spouses—in order to truly repent.

The “A” in PRAY stands for ASK. Most of us are pretty good at asking. But we don’t always remember to think about the needs of those around us. So, let me suggest to you that you incorporate three kinds of asking into your prayers: 1) Ask for your church; 2) Ask for your community; 3) Ask for your family and yourself.

The “Y” in PRAY stands for YIELD. In the Garden of Gethsemene, when Jesus knew that his arrest and beating and crucifixion were just minutes away, he cried out in prayer, “Father, let this cup pass from me! But not my will, but Yours be done.” In the same spirit, Jesus teaches us in the Lord’s Prayer to ask, “Your will be done.”

Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield: Four critical pieces to the prayer puzzle. You don’t need to be eloquent; you don’t need to have the perfect words. God’s idea of a “good” prayer is much different from ours. God isn’t impressed by longwinded prayers filled with flowery language and religious jargon. He is drawn to the humble, simple prayers of followers who come to Him in their helplessness with hearts drawn to His. So, just go to God and talk with Him with your own unique voice, in your own unique way. And as you talk with Him, praise Him, repent of your sin, ask Him to meet needs, and yield to His will. That’s it! That’s prayer.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church in Victorville. Join us at Impact for Sunday services: in person at 9 a.m., or online at 10 a.m. on YouTube or Facebook. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Don't Let Sin Slow You Down!

“We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” – Hebrews 10:30

When I think of running a race with perseverance, Cliff Young comes to mind. Who is Cliff Young? An Australian sheepherder and potato farmer, of course! In 1983, Australia began hosting what was, at the time, the most grueling foot race on earth: a seven-day, 543-mile ultra-marathon stretching from Sydney to Melbourne. That’s like running from Victorville to Sacramento, hanging a left and running 85 miles to San Francisco, then topping it all off by running back-to-back marathons around the city. 

The day the Sydney ultra-marathon started, 150 world-class runners showed up. And guess who showed up to run with them: Cliff Young. At the age of 61, Cliff approached the registration table, wearing overalls and rain boots, and declared his intention to run. You see, Cliff had grown up on a farm without the luxury of a horse or a four-wheel drive. So, when the storms rolled in, Cliff had to put on his rain boots and run for two or three straight days to round up 2,000 sheep over a 2,000-acre farm. To Cliff, running an ultra-marathon sounded like another day on the farm.

When Cliff started running, spectators thought, “This must be a joke!” Because he didn’t really run. It was more of a leisurely old-man shuffle. Australians were glued to their TVs, saying things like: “Someone should stop that crazy old man before he kills himself!” But five days, 15 hours, and four minutes later, after shuffling for 543 miles, Cliff Young shuffled across the finish line in Melbourne—in first place. And he didn’t win by a few seconds, or even by a few minutes. Catch this: The second-place runner was nine hours and 56 minutes behind him. You see, during the race, Cliff shuffled along day and night with almost no sleep, until he crossed the finish line. And the 61-year-old sheepherder who defied all odds became a national hero.

If Cliff Young can persevere through a 543-mile ultra-marathon, you and I can certainly persevere in our lives as Christians. One of the keys to running a gold-medal race for Jesus is, “Don’t sin.” Sin slows you down. Sin makes you weak. With that in mind, I’d like to point out three sins that slow you down and cause collateral damage in the church:

Sin #1: Unbelief. God’s word tells us in Hebrews 11:6: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” God is deeply concerned about unbelief in His followers. No sin will stop a church dead in its tracks as quickly as the sin of unbelief. Unbelief is a spiritual cancer within a congregation. And Hebrews 10:39 tells us: “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” We are believers—not quitters. No matter what tragedies happen in your life … no matter how many people around you think you’re nuts … no matter how hard it is to hold on to your faith … don’t stop believing.

Sin #2: Unforgiveness. To me, this is one of the most troubling sins in the church today. It grieves my heart to see how many Christians hold on to bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. And Christianity is nothing without forgiveness. Do you remember what Jesus taught us to pray in The Lord’s Prayer? “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” And in case we missed it, he elaborates in Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” If you refuse to forgive someone who has sinned against you, God will refuse to forgive you who have sinned against Him.

Sin #3: Undernourishment. Even if you’ve never participated in a team sport, you know that a nutritious diet is very important for an athlete. If you don’t train well or eat well, it affects you on the playing field. The same holds true in the spiritual realm. Our number-one source of nourishment is the Bible. It is our spiritual meat. It is our living water. Yet sadly, one recent study found that only one in eight Christians read their Bible daily. Last week, how many days did you go without eating any food? I would guess—zero. But how many days did you go without eating any spiritual food? Our second source of nourishment is prayer. Every follower of Christ needs to spend time with God in prayer every day. If we don’t, we’ll be undernourished. Finally, our third source of spiritual nourishment is the church. More than ever before, Christians are not making church attendance a priority. And the results have been devastating. Hundreds of churches across America have closed their doors for good. Needs in the community are going unmet. And most tragic of all: Millions of people are NOT getting saved … because the church is AWOL.

So, please make sure that you do your part to stay well-nourished as we run this Jesus Race together. Be in God’s Word every day. Spend quality time in prayer with God every day. And if you’re physically able to attend, be in church every week. We’ve got a lot of race left to run and not much time left to run it. So, let’s each do our part to finish our Jesus Race strong … together.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Know Them By Their Fruit (pt. 2)

 “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
- Matthew 7:16

In last week’s column, we looked at how to recognize a false teacher. In Matthew 7:16 and again in v. 20, Jesus tells us that we can recognize false teachers “by their fruit”—by observing the lives they live. But sometimes that’s easier said than done. Many churches are too big for us to get to know our pastor on a personal basis. And we can’t see what our church elders are doing behind closed doors. What we see on Sunday mornings looks good, but how can we know for sure whether or not our church leaders are false teachers peddling false teaching?

Well, you might not be able to see the rotten fruit in a false teacher’s personal life, but if you put in a little effort, you can see the rotten fruit in his teaching. Theologian William Barclay points out some red flags of false teaching in the church. I’ll highlight three of them.

Red Flag #1: Teaching is false if it focuses primarily on the observance of external religion. Barclay writes, “It is possible—and indeed not uncommon—to teach that religion consists of going to Church, observing the Lord’s Day, fulfilling one’s financial obligations to the Church, reading one’s Bible. A man might do all these things and be far off from being a Christian, for Christianity is an attitude of the heart to God and to man.”

So, when you’re thinking of joining a church, I encourage you to listen to a bunch of the pastor’s sermons online and attend at least a few Bible studies. If almost all of the teaching is focused on the external, and there is very little said about the sin in our hearts, that’s a red flag—because our faith is lived from the inside out. There is no excuse for any church to neglect teaching about our hearts, our souls and our spirits. That’s a sign of false teaching. That’s an indication of rotten fruit. Find another church.

Red Flag #2. Teaching is false if it focuses primarily on “Thou Shalt Nots.” As Barclay puts it, “There is a type of teacher who says to a [new] Christian: ‘From now on you will no longer go to the cinema; from now on you will no longer dance; from now on you will no longer smoke or use make-up; from now on you will never enter a theatre.’ If a man could become a Christian simply by abstaining from doing things Christianity would be a much easier religion than it is. But the whole essence of Christianity is that it does not consist in not doing things; it consists in doing things.”

Like most Christians, I don’t think followers of Christ should be dropping “F-bombs,” drinking Jack Daniels every weekend and watching every R-rated movie that hits the theaters. But there are plenty of people who never drop F-bombs, never drink hard liquor and never watch smutty movies—and they’re still headed for hell. How is that possible? It’s possible because “clean living” doesn’t save you. Jesus saves you. And Jesus only saves you if you follow Him. And following Jesus has never been primarily about what you DON’T do. It’s primarily about what you DO do: trusting Him, loving Him, and obeying Him. And here’s the kicker: As you trust, love and obey Jesus Christ, you will naturally NOT do the things that grieve His heart. You will naturally NOT do things that are sinful.

Following Christ naturally leads to NOT sinning—but it doesn’t work in reverse. NOT sinning doesn’t naturally lead to trusting, loving and obeying Christ. So, if a pastor or Bible teacher is constantly preaching “Thou shalt not” messages and is ignoring the call of Christ to trust, to love and to actively do what Jesus would do, that’s a red flag. That’s a sign of legalism and false teaching. It’s an indication of rotten fruit. Find another church.

Red Flag #3. Teaching is false if it tries to convince people that following Christ is easy. Barclay writes, “Any teaching which takes the Cross out of Christianity, any teaching which eliminates the threat from the voice of Christ, any teaching which pushes judgment into the background and makes men think lightly of sin, is false teaching.”

I get really concerned when pastors eliminate the words sin, repentance, judgment and hell from their sermons. For me, that’s a major red flag. Nobody loves a positive, uplifting message more than Jesus. But the problem is, in an attempt to be “positive” and “uplifting,” far too many pastors and teachers water down the gospel and ignore some of the most important teachings of the New Testament. And do you know what a watered-down gospel is? A watered-down gospel is no gospel at all. So, if a pastor’s teaching is always easy on your ears, easy on your conscience and makes it easy to keep living the same ol’ way you’ve been living, that’s a red flag. That’s a sign of false teaching. That’s an indication of rotten fruit. Find another church.

Some of Jesus’ teachings are really, really hard. And that narrow road to heaven is a hard road. When God’s word is faithfully preached, it doesn’t tickle your itching ears. Instead, God’s word corrects. It rebukes. And it encourages you to turn from your sin and follow Christ with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Know Them By Their Fruit (pt. 1)

 “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
- Matthew 7:16

In November of 1978, a popular 47-year-old evangelist and pastor showed his true colors. For the prior three decades, Pastor Jones had led thousands of people to Christ and had grown churches in Indiana and California. He took a strong stand against racism. He was also very charitable and did a lot to help the homeless. On the surface, Pastor Jones appeared to be a godly pastor. But those who looked a little closer noticed some red flags. Pastor Jones cheated on his wife and justified it. He called himself “The Prophet,” and he claimed to be able to foretell the future and heal the sick.

As the years went by, Pastor Jones became more and more paranoid of losing power. So, he convinced over a thousand of his church members to move with him to a compound in the middle of a jungle in Guyana, South America. And on November 18, 1978—after ordering followers to assassinate U.S. Representative Leo Ryan and several reporters who had traveled to Guyana to investigate his cult—Pastor Jim Jones ordered his church members to drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid. Within a few short hours, 913 people died—including 304 children. That tragedy could have been avoided if Christians in that church had done what Jesus teaches us to do in Matthew 7.

In verse 15, Jesus says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” You see, in Jesus’ day, shepherds liked to wear sheep skin—especially during the cooler winter months. They would turn the sheep skin inside out so the fleece provided a warm inner lining, and the skin provided a water-resistant outer shell. So, when Jesus speaks of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, he isn’t warning us about someone who is pretending to be a sheep; he’s warning us about someone who is pretending to be a shepherd. He is warning us about false teachers.

But how do we recognize a false teacher? Jesus answers in verse 16, and again in verse 20: “By their fruit you will recognize them.” And in the verses in between, Jesus illustrates this point. People don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles. Good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (v. 18). It’s as simple as that. You’ll never see a juicy peach growing from the end of a crispy, dried-out branch. Healthy fruit can only be produced by healthy trees. So, one of the clearest indications that a tree is healthy is if its fruit is healthy. The same holds true for Christians.

Remember that in Genesis 1, every living thing God created was created to reproduce according to its kind. Rose bushes never produce chickens. Apple trees don’t produce polar bears. Ravens don’t lay alligator eggs, and squirrels don’t give birth to elephants. And it’s the same way in the spiritual realm. If someone is a fake Christian, his or her fakeness will become apparent over time. Sooner or later, their rotten fruit will expose them.

You can’t identify a false teacher by the way he dresses, because false teachers know how to look the part. You can’t identify a false teacher by the way he speaks, because false teachers know the right words to say. In fact, many of them have a golden tongue and can captivate crowds with their words. Even the Apostle Paul ran into false teachers who were better speakers than he was. But they were luring unsuspecting Christians onto the path of destruction.

In Matthew 7:1 when Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged,” he was driving home the point that you and I can never know or judge people’s hearts or motives. Only God can know and judge a heart. But what you and I can judge is fruit. In order to keep yourself, your family and your church on the narrow road that leads to eternal life in heaven, Jesus has called us to be fruit inspectors.

Christians, Jesus wants you to inspect the fruit of those you vote for on election day. Don’t take at face value what they say in their campaign speeches. Inspect their fruit. Parents, don’t just let anyone get close to your kids who claims to be a Christian. Inspect their fruit before you let them get close to your kids. And singles, don’t get into a serious relationship with someone who’s just telling you what you want to hear. Churches across America are filled with false Christians: young singles who claim to be believers and followers of Jesus Christ but don’t produce any spiritual fruit, because—surprise, surprise—they’re not really saved.

I also urge you to inspect your own spiritual fruit. In the early 1800s, Adoniram Judson graduated from seminary and received a call from a respected church in Boston to become its assistant pastor. His family was excited that he could live at home with them AND do ministry. But Judson shook his head and said, “God is calling me beyond the seas. To stay here, even to serve God in His ministry, I feel would be only partial obedience, and I could not be happy in that.” He followed God’s call, and Judson’s churches in Burma have made over fifty thousand converts.

Think for a moment about Judson’s words: “I could not be happy with a partial obedience.” He could have just as easily said, “I could not be happy producing only a little spiritual fruit.” It’s not enough for us just to head down the narrow road to heaven. We need good Christian mentors to help us bear as much fruit as we possibly can. Life is too short, and our God-given mission is too important, to squander our fruitfulness. We all have the potential to bear lots of fruit for God. So, choose your teachers and mentors wisely. Then go and bear fruit for the glory of God.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Ready to Live The Golden Rule?

 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” - Matthew 7:12

You’ve probably run into a lot of people who say they follow The Golden Rule. They might say, “I’m not into church or religion, but I follow the Golden Rule.” Or, “I’m a pretty good person. I try to live by The Golden Rule.” But God’s word answers back, “No, you don’t! You don’t live by The Golden Rule, because you CAN’T live by The Golden Rule! It’s impossible—utterly impossible—for you to consistently ‘Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.’ You CAN’T do it! You WON’T do it … unless I do it through you.” 

You see, it’s impossible to follow The Golden Rule on the OUTSIDE unless Jesus Christ is working on the INSIDE. And faithful, heartfelt, persistent prayer is the only soil from which The Golden Rule will grow.

Jesus shares The Golden Rule this way in Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Critics of the Bible like to make the case that Jesus didn’t come up with this Golden Rule. They say it was around for centuries before he spoke it. They point out that Confucius said, “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” And the Greek king Nicocles wrote, “Do not do to others the things which make you angry when you experience them at the hands of other people.”

There’s no doubt that many ancient philosophers and teachers taught something very similar to The Golden Rule. But all of them are NEGATIVE forms of The Golden Rule: “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want them to do unto you.” But Jesus did something revolutionary. He gave us a POSITIVE form of the command. And there’s a big difference between the negative and positive forms of The Golden Rule.

William Barclay explains it this way: “It is one thing to say, ‘I must not injure people’ … It is quite another to say, ‘I must go out of my way to help other people and to be kind to them.’ Barclay goes on to say, “It is never difficult not to do things.… A man might forever refrain from doing any injury to anyone else, and yet be a quite useless citizen to his fellow men. A man could satisfy the negative form of the rule by simple inaction; if he consistently did nothing he would never break it.”

Think about it. If being a successful brain surgeon only requires us to not injure anyone during surgery, we could all be millionaire brain surgeons right now without any medical training. All we’d have to do is scrub up, walk into the Operating Room and do nothing. Doing nothing would mean success. And our Yelp Reviews would all be 5 stars because we would never injure anyone’s brain.

So many people think that they live by Jesus’ Golden Rule. But the truth is, they’re just living by Confucius’ inferior, negative version of it. They think, “I have a perfect record. I’ve never murdered anyone, never raped anyone, never robbed a bank, never cheated on my wife.” Well, whoop-dee-doo! Just about every atheist on the planet can say the same thing.

Once again, Jesus raises the bar. His Golden Rule is not natural. It’s supernatural. The reason most people who know The Golden Rule don’t live it out is because they can’t. Living out The Golden Rule requires a supernatural overhaul on the inside—an overhaul that can only be done by Jesus Christ. Unless Jesus gives you a new heart, a new mind and a new love for those around you, and helps you every step of the way, you can never live by The Golden Rule. But what is impossible with man is possible with God. You can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens you.

So, how can you learn to live out The Golden Rule? Well, you can begin praying these three prayers:

Prayer #1: Father in heaven, please forgive me for my sin. If you have unforgiven sin in your life, you will not be able to “do unto others.” You cannot love supernaturally if your heart and mind are filled with unnatural wickedness.

Prayer #2: Father in heaven, please help me get to know and love you better and better. Because The Golden Rule is supernatural, there’s no way that you could possibly live it out until you see it lived out by your supernatural Savior. You must spend serious time in God’s word and in prayer to know Him better. Jesus Christ is your role model, the only One to perfectly live out The Golden Rule. Pay careful attention to the way He loves undeserving people, so that you can love undeserving people too. And your love for Christ must deepen in order for your love for people to deepen. You can’t love people better unless you love Christ better.

Prayer #3: Father in heaven, please help me to LOVE as Jesus loves. If you want to live out The Golden Rule, God will help you. But you’ve got to really, really want it. You’ve got to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking. And if you do, God will answer your prayers. He will help you love the people around you with a supernatural, unconditional love. And when that happens, the people around you will experience heaven on earth like never before. They will experience Jesus like never before—through you.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Don't Worry!

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:27 

I heard a story about a husband who got fed up with his wife’s constant worrying. Finally, one day he asked her, “Why are you always worrying when it doesn't do ANY good?” She quickly yelled back, “Oh, yes, it does do some good! Ninety percent of the things I worry about never happen!”

Well, the wife is absolutely correct that 90 percent of the stuff we worry about never happens. But her worry didn’t do a darned thing to stop bad stuff from coming her way, did it?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear he doesn’t want us to worry. In fact, he tells us so five times in Matthew 6:25-34: “Do not worry about your life” (v. 25). “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (v. 27). “Why do you worry about clothes?” (v. 28). “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” (v. 31). “Do not worry about tomorrow” (v. 34). So, Jesus doesn’t want us to worry. But why not?

Well, just before He shifts to the topic of worry, Jesus was talking about money, telling us, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (v. 24). Keep that in mind as you read verse 25: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” In other words, “If you’ve chosen to serve God instead of serving money, and you’ve chosen to love God instead of loving all the stuff in your house, and you’ve chosen to be devoted to God instead of being devoted to your stomach, I tell you, do not worry about these other things.” Life in the kingdom of heaven is infinitely more important than food. And our bodies in the kingdom of heaven are infinitely more important than clothes.

Jesus calls us to take our eyes off all the stuff around us and reorient ourselves to God. And if we are reoriented to God, there is no place in our lives for worrying about food, water, clothes or even tomorrow’s utility bills. In verses 26-30, Jesus points out how well God takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. After all, you’ve never seen an undernourished bird, have you? And have you ever had a weed growing through a crack in your driveway that’s greener than the grass on your lawn? Or seen wildflowers that look better than the flowers in your garden? Why is that? It’s because God is a better gardener than you are. (He’s definitely a better gardener than I am.) So, if God does such a marvelous job clothing a weed or a flower or a wild blade of grass, Jesus asks in verse 30, “Will He not much more clothe you”—and don’t miss the last five words of this verse—“O you of little faith?”

What is Jesus saying? He’s saying that worry demonstrates a lack of faith in God. Therefore, worry is actually a sin! Worry demonstrate a lack of trust God’s LOVE, because it implies that God doesn’t really care about my needs. Worry shows lack of faith in God’s WISDOM, because it implies that God doesn’t know what He’s doing. Worry demonstrates lack of trust in God’s POWER, because worry implies that God isn’t able to provide for my needs. It’s a sin to distrust God’s love, wisdom and power—and that’s exactly what you’re doing when you worry. So Jesus turns to us in verses 28-30 and says, “Trust God, and don’t worry!”

As Jesus says in verse 33: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” if your priorities are straight—if you are heart’s affections and your thoughts are focused on God and His kingdom work, God will supply all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. If you’re serving Him, God will meet every need you have—guaranteed.

A recently licensed pilot was flying his private plane on a really cloudy day. He was low on fuel, and he was approaching the airport landing strip … but he couldn’t see it. And he didn’t trust his instrument panel. When the air traffic controller started to guide him through the landing process, the pilot began to panic. Then a stern voice came over the radio: “You just obey instructions. We’ll take care of the obstructions.”

You may worry because the refrigerator is almost empty … or your kids are going to need new shoes next month … or that you won’t have enough money next week to pay for what you need next month. But Jesus turns to you and says sternly, “You just obey my instructions. I’ll take care of the obstructions. And here are my instructions: Seek first the Father’s kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

What's Fasting All About?

“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes fromthe mouth of God.’”
  – Matthew 4:4

Skipped any meals lately? Some people skip meals to lose weight. Others fast as part of an internal detox. Still others do it just because they feel like they’re too busy to stop and eat.

But for Christians, there’s the practice of Biblical fasting—something a lot of us may be missing out on. You see, a biblical fast isn’t just about simply not eating. Biblical fasting involves replacing the food with something else—namely, prayer and a deeper study of God’s word. So, if we’re skipping meals, but we aren’t praying and reading God’s word more, that’s not biblical fasting. That’s dieting. You can pray without fasting, but you can’t fast biblically without praying.

If you do a Bible study on fasting, you’ll discover that it’s mentioned dozens of times in the Old Testaments and over 20 times in the New Testament. And God’s followers fast and pray for a variety of reasons. Here are three quick examples:

Example #1: Jesus fasted and prayed before he began his public ministry (Luke 4:2). Jesus set us a great example. Fasting and prayer focus us and empower us for what’s up ahead. When we are at a crossroads in our life and we’re about to begin something new and important, it’s a really good idea to spend some time fasting and praying. Before you begin a new job, it’s a good idea to fast and pray. Before you begin a new school year, it’s a good idea to fast and pray. Before your wedding day, before your child is born, before you have surgery—fast and pray. 

Example #2: Jesus urged his disciples to pray and fast for spiritual breakthrough (Mark 9:29). In Mark 9 we read about a boy who was demon-possessed. The demon made him mute, thrash around on the ground and foam at the mouth. Nine of Jesus’ disciples had tried to drive the demon out but they had failed. So, Jesus stepped in and drove out the demon. Later that day Jesus’ disciples asked, “Why couldn’t we drive out the demon?” Jesus answered, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” And some Biblical manuscripts include the two extra words “and fasting.” So, Biblical fasting can intensify our prayers to bring about spiritual deliverance when nothing else works.

This is such an important benefit of fasting and prayer. There are times when Christians get caught up in an addiction. Willpower doesn’t work, self-help methods don’t work, and the tear-filled pleas of loved ones don’t work. Even normal prayers don’t work. Oftentimes, when nothing else works, a season of fasting and prayer will work. And underneath many other physical, psychological and relationship problems, there are root spiritual problems. Seasons of prayer and fasting can address these root spiritual problems like nothing else can.

Example #3: The Church at Antioch prayed and fasted for God’s clear guidance and direction (Acts 13:2-3). As the Christians sought God through worship, prayer and fasting, God told them to set aside Barnabas and Saul for the mission field. And as a result, the single greatest Christian missionary of all time, the Apostle Paul, began the first of his three missionary journeys. Fasting and prayer tune our ears to God’s voice and prepare us to obey His clear guidance and direction.

As we’ve seen in these three examples, fasting and prayer can focus us and empower us for what’s up ahead. It can usher in spiritual breakthrough. And fasting and prayer can reveal God’s guidance and direction. But I believe it all boils down to this: Biblical fasting is a necessary part of a radical reorientation toward God.

In Isaiah 58:6-9, God laid into the people of Israel when their fasting had become meaningless. God told them, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I.”

God is saying that fasting has ALWAYS been about giving up something GOOD to gain something that is infinitely BETTER. Giving up food has never been the end goal. It’s just the starting line. As we give up some good food in order to reorient ourselves to God, who is much better and more fulfilling than the greatest meal we’ve ever eaten, He leads us to give up other good things for what is even better. As we fast from food, God also leads us to fast from injustice and oppression. He leads us to fast from hoarding our food while others around us go hungry. He leads us to fast from a closet full of clothes when the homeless around us need some of those clothes.

In short, as we fast and pray, God helps us take our eyes OFF ourselves and the temporary things of this world, so we can experience a radical reorientation to God. Food is good, but God is infinitely better. So, we fast and pray.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

3 More Prayer Requests from Jesus

 “Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” – Matthew 6:11-13

I think most of us understand that there’s a wrong way to pray. For example, this year’s Super Bowl was an absolute slaughter. At halftime the Chiefs were down 21-6 to the underdog Buccaneers. And by that time, you can guess what many Chiefs fans were doing, especially those who had bet on the game: They began praying for a miracle. After all, they had a lot riding on that game: money, pride and bragging rights. Do I even need to say it? That’s the wrong way to pray.

Another wrong use of prayer is to take someone else on a guilt trip. Instead of confronting them face-to-face, we choose the passive-aggressive approach and pray in front of them. “Lord, thank you for Jennifer. But I pray that she’ll stop being late all the time.” Or, “Father in heaven, help John to stop being so rude to me.” Most of us parents, at one time or another, have performed some guilt-trip prayers in front of our kids. After all, why confront them with their bad behavior when we can just pray for them at the dinner table? Friends, that’s another wrong way to pray.

But in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins teaching us the right way to pray. He says, “This, then, is how you should pray” (Matthew 6:9). And He proceeds to teach us The Lord’s Prayer. There are six prayer requests in this short prayer. Many Christians assume the first three requests in The Lord’s Prayer are focused on God’s needs and wants—“Hallowed by Your name,” “Your Kingdom come,” and “Your will be done”—while the last three requests focus on our needs and wants. But that’s only partly true. The last three prayer requests are very personal and practical, but each one still stems from a desire to see God’s name honored, God’s kingdom come and God’s will be done. Let’s take a look.

Jesus’ 4th Prayer Request (v. 11): “Give us today our daily bread.” Many ask, “What does Jesus mean by ‘daily bread’?” Well, we know that “bread” is a common symbol in the Bible, usually used as a synonym for food. So, Jesus’ 4th request in The Lord’s Prayer most likely boils down to this: “Our Father in heaven, give us the food we need today for our sustenance and support.” Or, as the New Living Translation puts it: “Give us today the food we need.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Give us this month the food we need.” Or even “Give us over the next few days the food we need.” Jesus wants us to express our dependence on God every day. 

Jesus’ 5th Prayer Request (v. 12): “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” In Jesus’ day, Jewish teachers used the word “debts” as a synonym for “sins.” So, Jesus is teaching us to pray that God will “forgive us for our sins, as we also have forgiven those who have sinned against us.” And if you’re wondering if Jesus is actually saying what you think He’s saying, the answer is YES … HE IS. Jesus is teaching us to basically pray, “Father in heaven, please forgive me for my sins. But only forgive me to the extent that I have already forgiven others who have sinned against me.” And all God’s children say, “Uh-oh!!!”

In case we miss what Jesus is saying here, He clarifies this 5th prayer request later on, in verses 14 and 15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Is Jesus actually saying that God will refuse to forgive us if we refuse to forgive others? Bingo! That’s exactly what He’s saying. Think about it: How can we possibly expect God to forgive us for a sin that we fully intend to commit again and again--tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that?

So, according to Jesus, this is the right way to pray: “Our Father in heaven, You are a God of great mercy and forgiveness. So, as we follow in Your footsteps, we have shown mercy and forgiveness to those who have sinned against us. Now, that we ourselves aren’t holding on to any unforgiveness, please forgive us for the sins we’ve committed against You.”

Jesus’ 6th Prayer Request (v. 13): “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” The Bible teaches us, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone” (James 1:13b). So what does this prayer request mean? Here’s a great insight that I learned from Pastor John Piper: “All our experiences are tests from God and are temptations from Satan.” He goes on to explain, “Pleasant Experiences – God wants us to thank Him. Satan wants us to idolize the pleasure. Painful Experiences – God wants us to trust Him. Satan wants us to curse God.” Learn to think of everything that you go through in life—whether it’s good, bad or ugly—as a test from God and as a temptation from Satan.

I pray that you’ll take these prayer requests to heart and pray them daily, alone AND with your family. Express to God your complete dependence upon Him to meet your needs today. Forgive others first, and ask God for forgiveness second. And finally, ask God to deliver you from anything—even blessings—that might pull you and your family away from God.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

3 Prayer Requests from Jesus

“This, then, is how you should pray.” – Matthew 6:9

The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest sermon of all time, delivered by the greatest preacher of all time—Jesus Christ. And right in the middle of this ground-breaking message, Jesus gives us a model prayer to follow when we’re speaking with our heavenly Father. It includes six prayer requests in all, and today, I’d like to take a look at His first three prayer requests with you.

Jesus’ 1st Prayer Request (v. 9): “Hallowed be Your name.” Now, “hallowed” isn’t a word that we use every day. The closest word to it in everyday English is Halloween, which has absolutely nothing to do with what Jesus has in mind here. The word hallowed comes from the same Greek word as holy, which means “to be set apart.” So, to be hallowed means to be regarded as holy or to be set apart from everything else. But if we draw the conclusion that hallowing God’s name is just a matter of regarding God as holy in our minds, we have missed Jesus’ point. God is not interested in hearing us say with our mouths, “Hallowed be Your name” unless we really mean it in our hearts. If our hearts don’t mean it, then God’s ears don’t want to hear it.

Here are a few synonyms for “hallow” as Jesus uses the word in The Lord’s Prayer: revere, honor; esteem, value, treasure and love. With that in mind, what is Jesus’ first petition in this great prayer model? It’s this: “Our Father in heaven, we want Your name be revered here on earth. We want Your name to be honored among us. We desire to esteem and value Your name more than any other name. We want to treasure You as the highest priority in our lives and love You will all our hearts.”

If we’re just praying with our mouths and not with our hearts, our prayers will always be shallow and weak. But our prayers come alive when they are prayed from a heart that truly desires for God to be honored, valued, treasured and loved here on earth just as He is in heaven. Once you understand what it means to truly pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,” Jesus’ next two prayer requests make perfect sense.

Jesus’ 2nd Prayer Request (v. 10a): “Your Kingdom come.” This second petition touches on two key things. First, it focuses on Jesus’ present Kingdom expanding now. As Jesus walked this earth, wherever He went, He took some of the best parts of heaven with Him—mercy, grace, kindness, truth, compassion, and unconditional love. And if you and I are followers of Jesus Christ with the His Holy Spirit living inside us, we also take some those parts of heaven with us wherever we go.

So, when we pray, “Your Kingdom Come” what we should mean is this: “Father in heaven, because our hearts long for You to be revered, valued, treasured and loved, we ask that You expand Your kingdom wherever we go. This world we live in has pushed You away long enough! So, Father, won’t You expand Your kingdom in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, and in our church. Everywhere we go, loving Father, grow Your kingdom through us.”

This second petition also touches on Jesus’ future kingdom covering the earth. Jesus is urging us to be forward thinking, to say as John says at the end of the Book of Revelation: “Come, Lord Jesus.” As Christ’s disciples, we are determined to expand Jesus’ kingdom today in our corner of the world. But at the same time, we long for the day when Jesus Christ will come down once again and restore complete order, peace and righteousness to this old earth—as it is in heaven.

Jesus’ 3rd Prayer Request (v. 10b): “Your will be done.” This petition goes hand-in-hand with the prior one. As God’s kingdom is established, His will must be done. As with the first two petitions, when we pray this prayer, we must be ready and willing to live it out. Yes, we want God’s will to be done in the White House, but first God’s will must be done right here in our house. Yes, we want God’s will to be done in our neighbor’s backyard, but first God’s will must be done in our own backyard.

With each of these petitions, we are asking God to partner with us to hallow His name, to usher in His kingdom and carry out His will. If you’re like many Christians, you’ve probably wondered at times why God doesn’t seem to answer your prayers. Why is that? Well, if you and I aren’t willing to roll up our sleeves and make it so in our own lives, the words of our prayers are empty. But when we’re willing to surrender our treasuring of ourselves to our treasuring of God; when we’re ready to scap our own kingdom in order to expand God’s kingdom; and when we’re prepared to push aside our will in order to carry out God’s will—you’d better believe that God will answer our prayers.

Try this in the coming week: Pray every day. And when you do, pray for God’s name to be treasured and loved  by you and by those around you. Pray for God’s Kingdom to come. And pray for His will to be done in your little corner of the world.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service tomorrow at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Pray Like Jesus

“When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.” – Matthew 6:6 

When you were a child, you may have been taught a short prayer.  It might have been this one: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” That’s a pretty scary prayer, for kids, don’t you think? It made kids want to sleep with one eye open: “Oh, no! If I fall asleep I’m gonna die!” Here’s another familiar one: “God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” But that 10-second prayer was evidently too long for some kids, so they shortened it to: “Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub. Yay, God!”

For a 3-year-old, memorizing a simple prayer is a good way to learn to pray. But if you’re 15, 25 or 65 years old, and you’re still praying canned prayers that sound like a broken record, then you haven’t really started to pray. This is nothing new; it was going on in Jesus’ time as well. That’s why, in His great Sermon on the Mount, He set out to teach us the RIGHT way and the WRONG way to pray.

In Matthew 6:5, Jesus begins telling us the wrong way to pray: “Do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.” In those days, when Jewish men prayed in the synagogue, they would often pray standing with their arms lifted in the air. That was a common prayer position in a worship service and in private prayer as well. But on a public street corner, it stood out like a sore thumb. It was a position that screamed out, “Look at me! If you want to hear a prayer that will knock your socks off, listen to me pray!” And Jesus says plainly, “I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

In other words, the “attaboys” that flashy pray-ers get from other people are all the reward they’ll ever get. They won’t receive any reward from God. The wrong way to pray is to pray in a way that makes YOU the center of attention.

In verse 6, Jesus explains the RIGHT way to pray. As the New Living Translation puts it: “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Simply put, the right way to pray is to pray discreetly and privately—motivated by a heartfelt desire to spend quality time with your Father in heaven. In other words … pray like Jesus. 

In Matthew 7, Jesus continues: “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” In those days, pagan worshipers would string together long, unintelligible phrases and repeat them over and over as a mantra. Jesus says, “Many hypocrites’ prayers are like that! Their prayers are full of words, and some of those words sound really impressive. But their prayers are meaningless. They claim to be talking to God, but they’re actually just putting on a dog and pony show for people. They’re just … babbling.”

Now, you and I can babble almost as badly as the pagans. Before lunch on Sunday: “Dear God, bless this food that we are about to receive to the nourishment of our bodies. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” And the same thing before lunch on Monday. Then, before bed on Sunday: “Dear God, thank You for this day. Help us to get a good night’s sleep and wake up refreshed in the morning. Forgive us for our sins. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”  And the same thing before bed on Monday. It becomes meaningless babbling!

Why on earth do we pray the same tired old prayers? We could never get away with saying the same tired old lines to people we're in a deep relationship with. If you spoke to your spouse every day with the same tired old language that you speak to God every day, would they think your words had any meaning whatsoever? Parents, if you spoke to your kids every day with the same tired old language that you speak to God, do you think your kids would feel loved?  

At times in our lives, we’ve all heard Christians stand up in church and pray beautiful, eloquent prayers. And we’ve thought to ourselves, “Wow! I wish I could pray like that!” But Jesus turns to us and says, “No! I don’t want you to pray like that. You are a unique child of mine, and our relationship is special. So, your prayers to Your Father in Heaven should be special. They shouldn’t sound like anyone else’s. Don’t worry about using the right words. Just talk with God like you’re talking to your Daddy who loves you more than anything in the world.”

Your Father knows what you need, and He is waiting for you to bring that need to Him. He wants to listen to your needs and meet them. He wants to hear you praise Him for who He is to you, and He wants you to thank Him for the unique blessings that He’s sent your way. And He wants to share His heart and thoughts with you as well.

You need to spend quality time with God—every day—just the two of you. He is waiting for you to come to Him. He is waiting for you to pray like Jesus.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service tomorrow at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” — Matthew 5:9

What do you think of when you hear the word “peacemaker”? Many people in our culture think of the Colt single-action revolver, the pistol famously known as “The Peacemaker.” What do you think the chances are that, when Jesus told us, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), he had something entirely different in mind? Pretty good chance, don’t you think?

Throughout the New Testament, God’s word calls us to pursue peace. Jesus tells us in Mark 9:50: “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” And James 3:17-18 reads, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

Notice something interesting in that James 3 passage. It doesn’t say that the wisdom from heaven is first of all “peace-loving.” It says that the wisdom from heaven is, first of all, pure. “Blessed are the peacemakers” was the seventh Beatitude given by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. But right before it, the sixth beatitude says, “Blessed are the pure in heart” (v8). Do you think it’s a coincidence that being pure is mentioned right before being peace-loving in James 3:17 and ALSO mentioned right before being peacemakers in Matthew 5:9? No way! It’s definitely not a coincidence.

So, here’s a very important truth: Without purity, there will be no peace. To be peace lovers and peacemakers, we must first be pure in heart. If peace is built on any foundation other than Christ’s purity, it’s a FALSE peace. That’s very important to remember these days, when there’s much talk about achieving “peace in the Middle East,” “peace in Washington D.C.” and “peace in America.” If the foundation of that so-called “peace” is anything other than the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, that is a false peace. Like the peace that comes from a Colt single-action revolver it is—at best—shallow and temporary.

God wants you to be at peace in your relationships, but never at the expense of your purity. If you have to lie, cheat, steal, or in any way compromise your integrity on the road to peace, you’re on the wrong road. Many wives think that they have to lie to their husbands to keep the peace. Many kids and teenagers think that they have to cheat on their assignments to keep their grades up so they can keep the peace at home. Many of us, when we’re around non-Christian friends, change the way we talk and act in order to fit in and keep the peace. But that’s a false peace that ultimately doesn’t do your friends any good. Impurity never leads to true, lasting peace.

Once you have that foundation of purity, here are four keys to becoming a peacemaker in your relationships:

Key #1: Stay humble. If you are arrogant and full of yourself, you’ll inevitably say and do things to others that damage your relationships. If you aren’t humble, you will be a peace-breaker, not a peacemaker.

Key #2: Repent of your sin. Once you humble yourself before God, you must grieve over your own sin and turn from it. If you don’t think that your mean and hurtful words to others are really mean and hurtful, don’t be surprised if you’ve got some broken relationships on your hands. Don’t ever forget the four most important three-word sentences in any relationship. “I am sorry.” “I was wrong.” “I love you.” “Please forgive me.” If you can’t speak those words and mean them, you are NOT a peacemaker.

Key #3: Pray for those who have hurt you. Jesus says in Matthew 5:44: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Don’t expect to experience true peace and reconciliation in your relationships if you’re not willing to sincerely love and pray for those who’ve hurt you. If you’re harboring bitterness, anger and resentment toward someone, DO NOT try to make peace with him or her until you’ve spent time in prayer and given that bitterness, anger and resentment over to the Lord. 

Key #4: Act quickly. Don’t allow open wounds to fester. Jesus tells us plainly in Matthew 5:25, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary.” That’s marvelous counsel. Don’t allow wounds in your relationships to fester. Don’t allow the sun to go down on your anger. If you want to be a peacemaker, deal with the rifts in your relationships as soon as possible. Take time to pray first, but then get to it!

Finally, remember: The most important way we can ever bring about peace in our relationships with people is to lead them into a relationship with Jesus. You’ll never be a true peacemaker who will be called a “child of God” if you’re not leading those around you to become “children of God” as well.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Pray For Your City

“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” - Jeremiah 29:7 

About a month ago, my family and I adopted a sweet little Welsh Corgi puppy named Finley. In this turbulent year, he’s been a breath of fresh air. For many of us, 2020 has been one of the hardest years of our lives. And honestly, some of us have been freaking out. But Finley doesn’t have a care in the world. Finley’s not worried about COVID. He’s not worried about paying the bills or keeping food on the table. And he won’t be any more stressed out on November 3rd than he’ll be on November 2nd. He doesn’t CARE who wins the Presidential election. He’s oblivious to all of it. At times I’ve found myself thinking, “It would be kind of nice to be Finley.”

Wouldn’t it be great to be oblivious to all of the problems and stressors in our world today? Of course it would. But you know what? God has something even better planned for you and me: Peace and prosperity without needing to be oblivious.

In Jeremiah 29, the people of Judah had been exiled to Babylon where, basically, they were prisoners of war. It was the hardest thing they’d ever endured, they felt as if God had abandoned them. But through Jeremiah, God gave His people a fresh perspective on their captivity. They felt their situation was hopeless, because they had taken their eyes off of God and were instead focusing on their problems. All they could think about was how to get out of Dodge as quickly as possible.

But God wanted His people to understand that they were in Babylon because He had PUT them there. And He had put them there for a reason, a reason that was going to take a number of years to carry out .... 70 years, to be exact. So, God tells them in verses 5-6 to “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too my have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.” While 70 years in Babylon must have sounded like a downer, it was actually a message of true hope, because it was part of God’s master plan. And God’s plan is always the BEST plan for us.

In verse 7, God urges His people to get on board with His plan: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” It would have been natural for the exiles to feel bitterness and unforgiveness toward the Babylonians, because those are all parts of our old sinful nature. But the Jewish exiles were God’s people, and as such it was high time for them to stop living according to the flesh and start living according to the spirit. And the same goes for you and me.

When we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living inside us, there is no room in our lives for bitterness, resentment, hatred or unforgiveness. There is no room for blaming everyone else for our problems. Instead of criticizing and blaming those who have made our lives difficult, God calls us to pray for their peace and prosperity. Some of us are harboring bitterness and resentment toward family members who have treated us like crud. Others of us are harboring bitterness and resentment toward political leaders who make decisions that we passionately disagree with. But let me ask you: Are you praying for them?

If you aren’t praying for them, why not? And if you’re praying for them to be arrested, or to get sick and die, that doesn’t count. Those are terrible prayers! God says, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

You may not be crazy about the city you live in, whether it’s Victorville, Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia or Phelan. But it’s where God put you, so you need to pray for it. If our hometown prospers…we too will prosper. Like many, I’m not too jazzed with California's Governor, Gavin Newsom, right now. I think he should declare all churches as “essential” and let churches in the High Desert get back inside their buildings. But regardless of how frustrated I am with him right now, that doesn’t change God’s command to me to pray for him and to seek his peace and prosperity. Because if Gov. Newsom and California prosper … we too will prosper.

Who ends up in office is important. But how Christians RESPOND to who ends up in office is even MORE important. It is both in our best interest and in God’s best interest that we seek the peace and prosperity of our city, our state, our nation, and the leaders who lead them. If America and its leaders prosper, we too will prosper. So this Tuesday, when new city council members and state and federal leaders are elected, there will be some new leaders you’re not crazy about. Who cares? Whether you like them or not is irrelevant. It doesn’t change God’s command to you to PRAY FOR THEM and seek the peace and prosperity of our city, our state, and our nation. Because if they prosper, you and I will also prosper.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

The Power of Prayer

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” – James 5:16

Back in the 1950s and ’60s, Dr. Helen Roseveare served as a missionary to The Congo, Africa. She told this true story. "A mother at our mission station died after giving birth to a premature baby. We tried to improvise an incubator to keep the infant alive, but the only hot water bottle we had was beyond repair. So, we asked the children to pray for the baby and for her sister.

“One of the girls responded. 'Dear God, please send a hot water bottle today. Tomorrow will be too late because by then the baby will be dead. And dear Lord, send a doll for the sister so she won't feel so lonely.' That afternoon a large package arrived from England. The children watched eagerly as we opened it. Much to their surprise, under some clothing was a hot water bottle! Immediately the girl who had prayed so boldly started to dig deeper, exclaiming, 'If God sent that, I'm sure He also sent a doll!' And she was right! The heavenly Father knew in advance of that child's sincere requests, and five months earlier He had led a ladies' group to include both of those specific articles.”

Our God hears and answers prayer. As the Book of James tells us in chapter 5, “Is anyone among you in trouble? He should pray” (v. 13). From the very beginning of his message to Christians, James made it clear that much of our spiritual growth comes through trials. In the first chapter, he wrote: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). Now, as he closes his letter, James once again shines the spotlight on our trials.

James doesn’t tell us what kinds of trials and hardships he has in mind. It really doesn’t matter, because this principle applies to all troubles and all hardships that Christians face. Regardless of what trouble comes our way, we need to pray. If your marriage is falling apart, you need to pray. If your kids are driving your crazy, you need to pray. If your boss or coworkers are acting like jerks, you need to pray. If your bills are due and you have no money, you REALLY need to pray. If your doctor says he doesn’t like the results of your blood work, you need to pray. If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, when you are in trouble—no matter what kind of trouble you are in—you should pray.

Now, you may have heard that God answers our prayers in one of three ways: He answers with a “Yes,” a “No” or a “Wait.” But when does God give us each of these three answers? Pastor Pastor Bill Hybels answers that question this way: If the request is wrong, God says, "No." If the timing is wrong, God says, "Slow." If you are wrong, God says, "Grow." But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are right, God says, "Go!"

At the end of verse 16, we read these life-changing words: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” It goes without saying that this verse doesn’t just apply to men. After all, most of us have known God-fearing women whose prayers were powerful and effective. James points to Elijah in verses 17-18 as an example of a godly man whose prayers were powerful and effective. He prayed that it wouldn’t rain in Northern Israel, and it didn’t rain. Three and a half years later, he prayed for rain, and guess what happened? Surprise, surprise! It started raining again.

Can prayer be just as powerful and effective today? Your answer to that question will largely determine whether or not your own prayers will be powerful and effective. We’re told in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. That being the case, without faith it is impossible for your prayers to be powerful and effective. But with faith…the prayers of a righteous man or woman, or teenager or child, are powerful and effective.

James ends his message to Christians with this final thought in verses 19-20: “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” When we lead a backsliding Christian back to Christ, it could literally save their life here on earth. And when we lead a nonChristian to Christ, it will literally save their life in eternity.

The greatest mission ever given to men by God was our mission to lead lost and dying sinners to Christ. But James reminds us that it’s not just about winning the lost. God also calls us to win the saved. There are millions of backsliding Christians out there who need to return to Christ. If you’re one of them, I urge you to return to Christ with your whole heart. Or, if you have a backsliding Christian in your life, God is calling you to urge him or her to return to Christ with their whole heart.

It’s been over six months since the start of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. So, don’t you agree that—one way or another—it’s time to get back to church? This Sunday at Impact Christian Church, we’re celebrating Back to Church Sunday. So, it’s the perfect time for you and your family and friends to return to the house of the Lord. Join us for our Live Outdoor Service at 9 a.m., or for our Online Service at 10 a.m. If my prayer for you is “powerful and effective,” I’ll see you at church Sunday.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service this week, on Back to Church Sunday, at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.