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With all of the devastating happening over the past few weeks in Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, Las Vegas and other places, the natural inclination for many people has been to declare that we should pray for these cities/regions. Other people, though, claim that prayer is not enough and that we need to take more action. I believe this disconnect comes partially because many people don't have a good understanding of the true purpose of prayer.
Our prayers are not meant to only be verbal expressions of our current conditions. A key component of prayer should be asking for direction, strategies and solutions to resolve the myriad issues we are experiencing in our communities. We should follow Jesus' example. In John 5:19, he said "I only do what my Father shows me," which means he was a man of action, but he only engaged in actions that were specific to accomplish his mission.
When we pray without acting, we are being passive. On the other hand, when we act without praying we can easily be at worst reckless or misguided, or at a minimum be ineffective. Zeal with good intentions but without "God intentions" can get you in a lot of trouble if it's not corralled, directed, and motivated by His love and purposes. Make no mistake, our cities and communities need as much prayer as we can get. However, we cannot afford to engage in actions that are absent of God's wisdom and guidance, because we're not helping the situations as much as we would like to think that we are. So please keep praying for our communities, businesses, schools, governments, etc. Just make sure you listen before you act.
When starting or running a business, you must realize that pressure is inevitable. So whether the pressure is financial, relational, social, political, or any other, it usually causes one of two reactions. It can cause you to either wilt under it or it can push you forward to your next level. Fortunately, you can choose how you will respond to it.
 This article is from a guest blog post I wrote for Gospel Today Magazine... We all have dreams. I’m not talking about the dreams that you have at night. I’m talking about the thoughts and desires that are so much a part of you, you seemingly can’t get away from them. It’s that hunger and drive inside of you to be something more than what you are right now; to do something far beyond what you have accomplished at this point in your life. It’s the thing that you love to talk about more than anything else. Even if you don’t talk about it much, it’s still got a hold of you more than you have a hold of it. While our life’s dreams should inspire us to be and do more, they often lead to frustration when we don’t know how to transform them into reality. One of the key reasons is that God is often left out of that process. We hear people tell us to “dream big,” but if your big dream is not connected to God plans for your life, your efforts will be futile. Finish reading this article at: http://www.gospeltoday.com/blog/2015/02/15/b-i-g-dreams-require-b-i-g-prayers/#sthash.aJpZlxD3.dpuf   Did you know the manifestation of your dream was meant to be a gift from God that keeps giving to others? On the most recent Sunday night Dream Catalyst Weekly Prayer Call I taught about the Parable of the Ten Minas found in Luke 19. One of the key principles gleaned from this parable - similar to the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25 - is that the most significant reward for our faithfulness is not money. Instead it's responsibility that's connected to influence over people. We must recognize that the dream given to us by God comes with His expectation that through the fulfillment of our dreams our lives will continually be a blessing to others. Click here to listen to the prayer call and download the teaching notes. Have a blessed day! Feel free to write your comments below...
 We had another powerful call this week in our continuing series #YourDreamMatters: From Dreaming to Thriving. The specific focus on this call was part 2 of Grace vs. Grind. During the devotional portion I talked about how important it is for us to focusing more on "becoming" rather than "doing" or performing our way into God's grace. When you understand your true identity in Christ you will embrace the fact that you don't have to earn or perform your way into God's grace. In addition to listening to the call I also included some bonus content for you to download. Just click the link below and enjoy! /resource-kit.html   It's amazing how many Christian entrepreneurs glory in their grind more than relying upon the grace of God. On this week's prayer call the focus was on the choices that we make to either work based on our own strength or work resting in the strength of God. And according to Mark 4:1-20, our choice and the corresponding harvest (or lack thereof) is based on the condition of our hearts. You will definitely be blessed and challenged by this call (I know because I was challenged as I was in teaching it). Click below to listen to the call and download the teaching notes. You can also access the previous call and notes if you haven't done so already. Also, don't forget to mark your calendar for the continuation of this series, #YourDreamMatters: From Dreaming to Thriving, this Sunday at 8:30 PM   This past Sunday on the Dream Catalyst Prayer was the first in the six-week teaching series #YourDreamMatters: From Dreaming to Thriving. Each week will have a different theme and the one for this week was The Dream Giver, which of course is God. You can listen to the playback of the call as well as download the teaching notes to help you in your personal study. I am committed to helping you connect the dots and close the gaps between what you see in your mind and what is produced in your life as it relates to your dream. These resources will be a great benefit to you. Excellent Resources to Help You Fulfill Your Dreams...
 I'm excited that I was able to launch the Dream Catalyst Prayer Call this past Sunday and serve you in this capacity. Your dreams are important to God and I'm here to support you as you pursue your purpose for Him. During the week please feel free to join our Dream Catalyst Prayer Facebook Group and post your prayer requests here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/738250132924286/ After each call I will post the recording so if you miss the call you can come to my web site and listen to catch up. Also, this will be a great way for you to hear the devotional teachings again. The devotional that preceded the prayer was focused on Joseph and the choices he had to continually make to see his dreams come true although he was unaware that he was moving in the right direction. Enjoy and I look forward to your feedback! Please leave your comments below...   "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." ~ Isaiah 65:24 If you are walking closely with God, the ideas that you have for your business don’t originate from you. As Proverbs 8:12 instructs us, witty ideas and inventions come from God. He wants to use you and your business to bring solutions to your community, city, or industry that solve problems and change lives. Somebody is praying to God right now and needs what you have to offer. Don’t take lightly the ideas that He gives you and cast them off as wayside seed (Mark 4:15). Their blessing and yours is dependent upon you receiving and obeying was God is telling you to do through your business. In order to bring the Kingdom of God from Heaven down to earth in a literal sense, we must utilize Holy Spirit-inspired entrepreneurial ideas to do good works, by turning spiritual truths into practical, holistic solutions that bring real, positive, and lasting change to people's lives. That is when the world will really see our lights shine brightly and glorify God in heaven! So the question is what darkness (confusion) is your business designed to bring light (revelation) to? What disorder is your business designed to bring peace to? How effectively you can answer these questions is directly connected to understanding your calling in business and generating value for which you are compensated extremely well. RELATED ARTICLE: 7 Secrets of Godly Business Success Please leave your comments below...
Now here's an interesting story posted on Os Hillman's blog at MarketplaceLeaders.org. A Christian entrepreneur purchased a TV station and decided to pursue a radical idea to increase revenues and reach people in the marketplace... After losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every month in attempting to attract a “Christian audience” she realized that the station could not survive without a more mainstream programming lineup. An opportunity arose to get the Rush Limbaugh program from a competitor, but only if she also took “The Jerry Springer Show.” Linda struggled with what to do with this program, knowing the religious community would criticize this decision. Then, the Lord gave her an idea. Read the entire article at here: http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/using-jerry-springer-to-preach-christ/ Do you think this is going too far to reach people? Leave your comments below...
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