Prayer

Prayer, Communion, and the Word of God

Posted on September 5, 2012 by mcalmond

Acts 6:4 (ESV) But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The Apostles here in this text are dealing with something that is important in the life of the Church. It is more important than simply who gets what. It has to do with the fair treatment of all and not just a few or even the many. There were a large group of Hellenists Jews who had converted over to the faith of Christ Jesus. There clearly seems to be a problem between them and the Palestine Jews or locals as it were. However, when you read this text you get the clear sense that the Apostles, yes, had to deal with the problem, but they made it clear that they were not going to carry the burden this problem. Others would have to do that. The reason for this was simply the recognition that they needed to walk as Jesus walked. How did Jesus walk? He walked in close communion in and with the Father God. He was a man of Prayer, of the Word, of Communion and Action.

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Categories: Abiding, Accountability, Anointing, Awakening, Calling, Character, Core Values, Dependency, Fear of God, Hearing The Lord, Holiness, Prayer, Preaching, Relationship, The Power of God, Word | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

An Urgent Call To Arms!

Posted on August 16, 2012 by mcalmond

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV) if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I have felt compelled today that I was to sound an alarm of prayer that we are as a people to seek the very face of God in behalf of our nation, its president, leaders and its people, whoever and where ever they are. We must once again, in spirit and in truth, become a praying people and we must become a praying people now! Our time is running out if we do not!

Our nation and its people hang in the balance. The true battles we are to fight, are battles of and in the spirit. That which is seen and visible has its source and origin always in the spirit. Our greatest weapons are weapons of the Holy Spirit and of God’s saving Faith and not of ourselves or any others.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Accountability, Body of Christ, Commands, Deliverance, Holy Spirit Hearing, Intercession, Now Word, Obedience, Prayer, Readiness, Spiritual Warfare, Standing in Faith, The Power of God, True Love | Leave a comment

The Dismantling

Posted on July 22, 2012 by mcalmond

Note: This is a personal post written by my daughter Dana Summers ***

I wanted to share with you that the Lord has been doing in my life over the last year and half.  This has been a trying year for us, as a couple, a family and for me personally.  The Lord began this year by revealing to me, by His mercy, what he was doing.  In January 2011, as I was sitting in a Bible study, I heard one word to start off my new year: “dismantling”.  “What?  I knew that this word was for me, however I hoped it was for someone else.  What does dismantling mean exactly?    The dictionary defines Dismantle as  1. to deprive or strip of apparatus, furniture, equipment, defenses, etc.: 2. to disassemble or pull down; take apart: 3. to divest of dress, covering.  He then gave me the rest:  Embrace the dismantling, Deal with fear of exposure, Remove walls of protection, Begin to see weakness as strength, Be thankful for the past, repent of regret & disappointment, Let go of expectations, Receive new directions, Receive new wisdom and  Restoration.

Apparently I had been holding on to some things and the Lord thought it was time to deal with them.  His timing is perfect, I had to remind myself of that over and over.  I am not going to lie, this has been a really difficult year/season for me.  The Lord didn’t have to let me in on what He was doing.  I am thankful that He did, but still do not have total understanding.  I have learned not to try to interpret what God is doing but to trust him in the unfolding, because it never looks like what I expected.

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Categories: Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Accountability, Anointing, Being a PK, Being Built Up, Belief System, Breaking Forth, Changes, Character, Christian Maturity, Core Values, Covering, Dependency, Divine Encounters, Encouragement, Family, Genuineness, God's Faithfulness, Hearing The Lord, Honesty, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Misplaced Dependency, New Beginnings, Prayer, Presumptions, Timing, Transcendence, Victory, Work of God | 2 Comments

A Fresh Vision of Spiritual Covering

Posted on March 11, 2012 by mcalmond

Psalms 27:5 (ESV) For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

I want to share with you something that the Lord shared with me. It has to do with Spiritual Covering. While I admit that this phrasing has met with a lot of distortion and abuse over the years, I genuinely believe in the truth and principle of our need to cover those whom the Lord has given us. Covering has to do primarily with protection. It is in this light that I desire to share with you Spiritual Covering.

It was 1985 and my lovely wife was in Sacred Heart Hospital for surgery on a brain tumor. I had been with her for much of the time during her surgery and in recovery with very little sleep. So, I finally went to a nearby motel. As I was at the motel, I suddenly found myself under attack, spiritually. This attack was concerning things that I had long thought were taken care of. I began to cry out to the Lord concerning these things. My question was why I was suddenly vulnerable to these attacks. The presence of the Lord came and was powerful, precious and very comforting. It was then that the Lord began to grant me some clarity regarding that which I was crying out to him about.

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Categories: Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Awakening, Calling, Covering, Empowerment, Family, Genuineness, God's Love, Hearing The Lord, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Seeing, illumination, In Spirit and In Truth, Inner Healing, Intimacy, Paradigm Shift, Prayer, Testimony, Thanksgiving | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

The Compelling Work of God’s Grace

Posted on February 14, 2012 by mcalmond

1 Cor 9:16-18 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. ESV (cf Acts 20:22; 2Cor 5:14)

Paul did not choose his life course, it was chosen for him. The Lord chose this course of life and ministry for him and as a result, Paul was compelled by the Lord to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He does not do this out of his own will, but rather he is constrained to do this, faithfully as the Lord’s servant, as a steward of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

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Categories: Abiding, Authenticity, Benefits, Calling, Confidence, Dying to Self Will, Encouragement, God's Faithfulness, Grace, His Chosen, In Spirit and In Truth, Ministry Motivation, Prayer, Repentance, Selflessness, Simplicity | Tags: , | 2 Comments

A Prelude To Four Years Of Warfare

Posted on January 14, 2012 by mcalmond

There is more to prayer than all too often meets the eyes of our understanding. I was out on the west coast and at a prayer center where I had spent most of the day in prayer. It had been a wonderful time of resting in and before the Lord Jesus. It was beautiful day, warm and quiet and, re-enlivening.

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 (ESV) So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Yet what made the day even more wonderful and life-giving was having spent it in prayer, in worship and in the word of God, quietly and physically alone. I was so very grateful for this time of solitude in and with the Lord Jesus as I was not very familiar with this area and needed His perspective regarding it, for we were still very new there.

After several hours I got up and went outside. This place of prayer was on a small rise. I stopped and looked around at the surrounding hills, the valley ahead and the river running past. As I stood there, I was suddenly caught up in a vision. I could see mighty angels on the ridges of the hills, on both sides of the valley, east and west. They were definitely at the ready. The horses were eager to go forward into whatever battle that lay just ahead.

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Categories: Absolute Dependency, Angels, Anointing, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Darkness, Dependency, Divine Encounters, Empowerment, Fear of God, Following Through, God's Love, Obedience, Prayer, Prophetic Revelation, Revelation, Spirit, Spiritual Warfare, Visions, Wind of the Spirit | 2 Comments

I Am Hearing The Lord. Really?

Posted on January 11, 2012 by mcalmond

I Believe That I Am Hearing God, But… ?

I believe I am hearing God, but what if my heart, being deceitfully wicked and no man, including me, can know it, has misled me?

I believe I am hearing God, but what if my motives, paradigms and ignorance are all in the way?

I believe I am hearing God, but what if I am functioning out of blindness and deafness, unknown to me?

I believe that I am hearing God, but what if I have hidden unresolved issues with my mother or father or some kind of ancestral bondage’s that are getting in the way?

I believe I am hearing God, but the counsel of my friends in Christ cannot agree as to whether the question I had asked the Lord to begin with, was accurately framed according to the doctrines of our faith and therefore genuinely theologically sound?

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Categories: A Compilation of Sources, Absolute Dependency, Hearing The Lord, Holy Spirit Hearing, Holy Spirit Listening, Intellectualism, Lost and Alone, Noise and Distractions, Obedience, Open Ears, Prayer, Presumptions, Revelation, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Stirrings, Vulnerability, Word, Work of God | 1 Comment

His New Adventure

Posted on November 19, 2011 by mcalmond

We have begun a new chapter in our lives. We are now pastoring a small rural Assembly of God Church in a small town in Ohio. We are truly looking forward to this with all of our hearts in the Lord Jesus Christ! We have no clear idea where all of this will lead us for certain, however we have a very real confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ that He has His plan and purpose for us all, in and through this. May it all be, from beginning to end, for His greater glory, honor and praise!

There was for us, from the very beginning, only one true desire, that only His will, word and ways would be accomplished in and through this whole process. Having walked it out, we rest in the truth that He is most certainly in this new adventure, His new adventure. To what end you may ask? Well, to His end. We have no idea for certain, as I have already said, where specifically this will lead, but we do know that it is in His very capable hands and not ours. This is His work, even as we are all His people. Letting Him has His way in, to and through us all, is our primary goal and aspiration.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Authenticity, Awakening, Belief System, Benefits, Breaking Forth, Christian Maturity, Hope, In Spirit and In Truth, Ministry, Pastor, Prayer, Resurrection Life, Simplicity, Spirit, Spiritual Hunger and Thirst, Transcendence, Wind of the Spirit, Word, Work of God | Leave a comment

What Really Matters

Posted on November 13, 2011 by mcalmond

There is within the verse found in Ecclesiastes 4:8 a question that is posed. It is a question that has nagged me positively over and throughout the years; “For whom am I toiling…?” It is an important question. It is a question that helps me look beyond myself or situation and discover my genuine heart and motives in any given circumstance. I find that when this question arises in me, I must be careful to not answer it hastily or presumptuously. It is a question that the Lord Jesus is using to probe and expose what is going on inside of me, truly.

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Categories: Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Authenticity, Belief System, Breaking Forth, Calling, Christian Maturity, Dependency, Growing in Faith, Humility, Intimacy, Obedience, Pastor, Prayer, Presumptions, Priorities, Reflections | 2 Comments

The Great Falling Away

Posted on October 29, 2011 by mcalmond

The Lord Jesus Christ one day while he was teaching asked a vitally important question. This question is almost too easily overlooked because of the way that it came forth. His question arose at the end of his teaching. He was telling a parable of the importance of persevering in faith, in earnest prayer, of how we need to be those who learn the power of and value of our praying through until we have what we are seeking the Lord.  For in Spirit and Truth, He is willing, just and ready to answer our prayers. As the Lord was finished sharing his brief parable, suddenly, almost as a passing thought Jesus says, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 ESV)

Will we as believers persevere in faithful prayer, in genuine faith, while waiting for the Lord’s return? Or will we give up and walk away, throwing in the towel, turning around and no longer walking in the faith, hope and love of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We live in crucial times with rapidly accelerating darkness and sin all around us. We live in a time that all too quickly approaches, what the Word of God refers to as the time of The Rebellion, The Apostasy, The Great Falling Away.

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Categories: Anointing, Apostasy, Awakening, Being Built Up, Belief System, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Darkness, Dependency, Disobedience, Dying to Self Will, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Faith, Fear of God, Flesh, Following Through, Genuineness, God Faith, God's Faithfulness, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, Holy Spirit, Hope, Knowledge, Last Days, Mercy, Ministry, Noise and Distractions, Now Word, Obedience, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Openness, Paradigm Shift, Persecution, Perseverance, Prayer, Presumptions, Priorities, Process, Profession, Promises, Readiness, Relationship, Rest, Righteousness, Rock, Salvation, Saving Faith, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Source, Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Spiritual Warfare, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Teacher, Teaching, Tenaciousness, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, Victory, Vulnerability, Waiting on the Lord, Witness, Word, Word of God, Work, Worship | Leave a comment

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