Empower Me! Prayer Series Introduction (Part 1 of 15)

Empower Me! Prayer: Introduction

P-R-A-Y-E-R...  

That word, and even just the thought of praying can be as nerve wracking as having to stand up and give a speech in front of thousands of people.  Yet, it doesn't have to that scary.  We will cover the topics below over the next two weeks of daily posts.

Why do many of us not pray?  
We often do not pray because we fear what we do not know, we fear failure, and we fear because we don't know how.  What we must realize is that fear is the opposite of faith.  Where there is fear, faith cannot reside.  So, how do we replace fear with faith?  

Crisis Prayers 
Last year, I was led to lead a 30-day challenge, asking people on facebook to pray for the missions work here in Asia, the ministry team, the church plant, and myself.  

Just before the event took place, I decided to take 10 days and go on a hiking trip to Lantau Island (home to an old fishing village) in Hong Kong.  The goal was to spend quiet time with God, and prepare a few messages for the event.  It was also a time to rest.  

Two days before the end of the vacation, while sleeping, something happened.  I was too exhausted to even get up out of bed that day.  Sounds crazy doesn't it.   Too exhausted - from resting?  I was scheduled to leave Saturday morning, but decided to leave Friday (the next day) to stop and visit a doctor I knew in Sai Kung, Hong Kong on my way home.  

I told the doctor about the problem, and a few times in the past where I had been seeing stars and dizzy.  He said it sounded like "silent strokes" and that I had possibly had a mini-stroke the day prior.  He advised that I return home (my home on the mission field) and see a doctor as soon as I could.

I knew that the earliest to see a doctor was on Monday.  So, I traveled home the next day (Saturday), and worked (multi-media and photographer) during Bible School and Sunday Service the next day.  That's when it happened.

I remember telling one of my teammates to take over, that I needed to go lay down.  The next thing I knew the service was over and I was leaving with the Pastor's wife to go home.  There were several flights of stairs and I was having much difficulty getting down them.  In the taxi home, I remember the Pastor's wife asking me what was wrong, because she said I was stuttering.  Hmmmm.... 

I ended up in a nearby International Hospital where they determined I had a stroke.  I was shocked because when I think of strokes I think of older people, not me.  Three weeks later, another stroke...this one worse than the last one.  
Why am I telling you this?  Most people only pray when there is a crisis situation in front of them.  This is when they reach out to God saying, "Help me."  

I am thankful that I did not do that.  I not only had been in prayer and speaking my faith regarding my health, but I had just scheduled people all over the world via Facebook to pray with me.  I was alone on that hiking trip.  Imagine what could have happened if not for the prayers of others at the moment.  Two strokes - but I am still alive and have greater vision and call regarding the people of Asia than ever before from God.  I came so close to death, that I can tell you exactly what death is like.  Where would I be if not for the prayers of these praying in the 30-day challenge at that moment?  How can a regular prayer life change your world?

What are the different kinds of prayer?
Different kinds of prayer?  We just ask and he gives, right?  There are many different kinds of prayer available to us.  Join us to see for yourself.

Answered Prayer
How do I talk to God?  What do I say?  How do I know He will answer my prayer?  What are the keys to answered prayer?  All great questions with answers available to us.




Stay tuned to this blog the next two weeks for answers to your fears and questions about prayer.  

What you will need:

• Journal (for writing or picture note-taking --see other posts on this blog for Joy's visual note-taking and recording prayers and prayer requests.)
• your bible

See you tomorrow,

joy neasley

Lift 'em up! (Empower Me! Prayer Series 7 of 15)

The Prayer of Praise and Worship.

Prayer is much more than asking God to do or give us things, or change circumstances (known as the prayer of faith).  An example of another kind of prayer is the prayer of praise and worship.  

Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.  As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.  So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.  Acts 13:1-4 NKJV

In this passage, look at the phrase "as they ministered to the Lord and fasted."  Ministering to God is not asking for something, not seeking for Him to change something, or wanting Him to do something.  That word in the original Greek comes from a word that means to be a public servant.  To minister to someone (or God), according to Merriam Webster dictionary, means to give aid or service.  

The prayer of praise and worship is how we minister to God.  No, this is not the same as when we go to church and praise and worship.  When we go to church for praise and worship, we are usually wanting to receive.  In the prayer of praise and worship we are there to serve (through praise and worship) our God.  To serve, means that we are sing praise and worship solely for the Glory of God, not for ourselves.  

This does not mean that God will not speak to us through the Holy Spirit during this time.  Look at the passage above.  After they ministered to the Lord and they fasted, the Holy Spirit spoke.  

The prayer of faith is scriptural.  God's Word tells us to ask and receive.  However, there is also a place for the prayer of praise and worship.  

I saw a cartoon once of a man sitting at a desk in heaven, sort of like a secretary.  On each side of his desk sat a basket.  One basket was labeled 'requests,' and the other was labeled 'thanks'.  The requests basket was so high that I could not see the top of it.  Bags of letters on the floor surrounding the desk were overflowing with requests also.  On the other side of the desk sat the basket for the letters saying thanks.  This basket had just a few letters sitting within it, not even enough to fill the basket.

Our circumstances and our life needs are right in our face most of the time.  Therefore, they are first and foremost on our minds when we go to God.  How much more important is it to say Thank You, and go to Him with only praise and adoration, sharing with Him our love.  

What if your best friend came to you everyday, day and night, asking for this and asking for that;  never saying thank you, never spending time with you developing a relationship, never having good times with each other.   Your best friend would not be your best friend for long.  

Often times, there are circumstances well beyond our control, and we do not seem to understand why we do to see the answer to our fervent prayers of faith.  

Take a moment to think of a situation where you did not see the answer to what you asked.  When this happens, take a look at the amount of quality time you spend with God, in His Word, and ministering to Him through praise and worship.  Just like with the church in Antioch, after a time of ministering unto the Lord, the Holy Spirit manifests.  It is during this time that can often see answers to our previous prayers, and even answers to prayers we have not even asked yet.  

God wants to fellowship with His children and meet the desires of our hearts.  However, He will not force us to spend time with Him.  It is a decision we make.  

78 finished...and 32 more to go.

How about that?  78 finished silhouettes with only 32 more to complete.  Yeah!

As I wrote in the last post, I am beginning to work out backgrounds.  I have two with the background.  I will fine tune these as they hang for a while.  

The backgrounds are designed with various shades of earth tones.  They will range from blues through burnt sienna and various mixes of the two.  There is a method to my madness, and you will see it as the project is put together.

I want to make sure that there are a few elements that create flow in the overall composition of the canvases once all of them are put together to create a wall, a "build it and they will come" wall.  

I am learning more about color and mixing color through this process.  Jane Blundell has a great blog to help with this:  janeblundellart .  

I cannot wait to get the wood for the frames and begin stretching the canvases.  They are going to be three different depths to add interest to the overall composition.  

Dig deep! (Empower Me! Prayer Series 6 of 15)

The Prayer of Faith

Did you know there are several kinds of prayer? 

Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).  Eph 6:18 AMP

The prayer of faith is one kind of prayer we can pray.  What is the prayer of faith?  It is  a prayer that changes things and circumstances.

 “Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.   Mark 11:22, 23

In the prayer of faith, we pray with certainty, knowing God's will in the matter before we pray because we have His Word to tell us His will for the situation.  We can speak scriptures in our prayer of faith regarding the particular situation or circumstance, and know that God keeps His Word.  We can pray with faith. 

 The prayer of faith cannot always work if the prayer is for other people.  Why?  God gave each of us our own will and our own faith.  When we pray a prayer of faith for someone else, their will and faith affects the results of the prayer too. 

When someone is a baby Christian we can pray for them on our faith, but as they grow up spiritually God expects them to use their own faith and pray for themselves according to His Word.  It is not much different than a child growing up.  Infants require someone to do everything for them.  They cannot be expected to get up and prepare their own meals.  However, if a 19 year old sat in bed and cried for food and diaper changes everyday, we know there is something wrong.  As a child grows they become responsible for themselves.  The same is true in our spiritual growth.  We are expected to grow up spiritually, and pray using their own faith based on God's Word.

We each must learn to pray the prayer of faith in our lives, and receive answers to those prayers.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  James 5:13-16

James tells us to call for the elders to pray over us when we are sick.  However, this does not mean that you rely on the pastor's faith.  We are to develop our own faith through hearing God's Word, and agree with the pastor in the prayer of faith as he prays over us.


Dig deep into God's Word and as scriptures are implanted within your spirit (your heart), you will be able to use them to pray in faith.  Start digging today.

Defense or Offense? (Empower Me! Prayer Series 5 of 15)

Crisis Prayers

Last year, I was led to lead a 30-day challenge, asking people on Facebook to pray for the missions work here in Asia, the ministry team, the church plant, and myself.  

Just before the event took place, I decided to take 10 days and go on a hiking trip to Lantau Island (home to an old fishing village) in Hong Kong.  The goal was to spend quiet time with God, and prepare a few messages for the event.  It was also a time to rest.  

Two days before the end of the vacation, while sleeping, something happened.  I was too exhausted to even get up out of bed that day.  Sounds crazy doesn't it.   Too exhausted - from resting?  I was scheduled to leave Saturday morning, but decided to leave Friday (the next day) to stop and visit a doctor I knew in Sai Kung, Hong Kong on my way home.  

I told the doctor about the problem, and a few times in the past months when I had been seeing stars and dizzy.  He said it sounded like "silent strokes" and that I had possibly had a mini-stroke the day prior.  He advised that I return home (my home on the mission field) and see a doctor as soon as I could.

I knew that the earliest to see a doctor was on Monday.  So, I traveled home the next day (Saturday), and worked (multi-media and photographer) during Bible School and Sunday Service the next day.  That's when it happened.

I remember telling one of my teammates to take over, that I needed to go lay down.  The next thing I knew the service was over and I was leaving with the Pastor's wife to go home.  There were several flights of stairs and I was having much difficulty getting down them.  In the taxi home, I remember the Pastor's wife asking me what was wrong, because she said I was stuttering.  Hmmmm.... 

I ended up in a nearby International Hospital where they determined I had a stroke.  I was shocked because when I think of strokes I think of older people, not me.  Three weeks later, another stroke...this one worse than the last one.  

Why am I telling you this?  Most people only pray when there is a crisis situation in front of them.  This is when they reach out to God saying, "Help me."  Reaching out during a crisis is appropriate.  The problem comes in when it is the only time someone reaches out to God.

I am thankful that I did not do that.  I not only had been in prayer and speaking my faith regarding my health, but I had just scheduled people all over the world via Facebook to pray with me.  I was alone on that hiking trip.  Imagine what could have happened if not for the prayers of others at the moment.  Two strokes - but I am still alive and have greater vision and call regarding the people of Asia than ever before from God.  

Offensive or Defensive?

Prayer can be offensive or defensive in nature.  Think about an American football game.  Each team has both, an offensive team and a defensive team.  It takes both to win the game.  In offensive prayer, you are taking ground.  In a defensive prayer, you are keeping the ground (preventing the enemy from taking the ground you have taken).

God's Word (the Word and will of God that we know) is a powerful tool in prayer.  Reading God's Word and speaking out in prayer that Word (believing it), takes ground.  The more we know what is ours and what we can have as children of God, we begin to take it.  

This kind of prayer in faith moves mountains before we ever see them.  It saves lives around us.  It creates an atmosphere of victory in our homes.  It is powerful!  This kind of prayer in faith is what changes your life, changes your situations, and moves you forward.

Prayers prayed in an immediate time of need are necessary.  They keep the enemy from taking ground that you have already have.  The problem is when someone only prays to God during these times of "crisis".  I call these crisis prayers. 

Take a look at the game of American football again.  Imagine the offensive team decided to quit, or vice versus.  Can you image doing all the work to get to the end zone only to be pushed right back to where you started?  Can you imagine trying to kick a field goal from the beginning?  It takes both sides to be effective and win the game.

The same is true in prayer.  If we only pray during a crisis, then we cannot take ground.  Rather, we are constantly going backwards.  If we speak God's Word daily taking what is ours in Christ, but do not defend it, we will loose it.

I encourage you to read Nehemiah 1:4-11.  Nehemiah uses the power of prayer in this passage.  

What does he do before he prays?  How does he pray?  What does he ask God for and why?  Why does Nehemiah remind God the promises he made?  Was he specific in his prayer?  

Empower Me! Prayer Series for Teens and Preteens (Parents too)

Empower Me! Prayer series

EMPOWER ME!  PRAYER for teens, preteens, and their parents

EMPOWER CHILDREN TODAY You can help us Empower Children & Teens across Asia today; all it takes is a small donation. After clicking the "Donate Now" button below, go to the drop down menu and select "Joy Neasley-Asia"   DONATE NOW Photo by Joy Neasley in Mainland China.

Empower Me! Prayer and Empowering Children Today updates Dear fans and supporters, The creation of children and teen ministry materials in China continues. As I have mentioned before, the children and teen ministry in the underground church in China is in great need of solid materials for Pastor's, leaders, and the children themselves.  "Empowering Children Today"  is a huge project meant to fill that void.  The materials are being produced in both English and Mandarin.  (samples and the progress of the creation of the materials are posted at Empowering Children Today BlogSpot) Stage one is the creation of the materials (with intent for use in China) in English.  These will be made available (via website) in the future to you as well.  Once the English is complete, we will be begin the Mandarin version. At the moment we are working on the basic core curriculum (Empower Me!  Survey of the Bible:  Genesis through Revelation) for five age groups ranging between ages 3-18.  A team is also presently working on the creation of Bibles for each age group. Stage two is the production of the materials in Mandarin to be distributed all over Asia to pastors and children/teen ministry leaders. Stage three is the creation (in both languages) of Pastor's and Children/Teen ministry leaders guides and teacher/volunteer trainings and workshops. Stage four is the publishing and distribution of these materials all over Asia and (around the world in English via website) in both English and Mandarin. Part of the project is the creation of four 1-week intense schools for preteens and teens, and their parents.  One of which is "Empower Me! Prayer", prayer school. Beginning this week, I will write the materials to empower our teens through prayer.   I will offer some of basic messages from my notes on my blog "simply prayer" for you, beginning March 15th and continuing through March 30th. I look forward to joining you on the blog, Joy Neasley