The prophet Daniel studied the Word and prayed the Word. At one point, he realized that "the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years." Daniel's response was not to say, "Oh, well, God has it predestined so I'll do nothing." His response, in Daniel 9:3 is, "So I turned to the LORD God, and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, in sackcloth and ashes." What follows in Daniel 9 is a prayer that is worth pondering. But in this example of Daniel we find the connection between God's Word and prayer. As Christ-followers, let's read the Word and pray the Word.

I'm excited for tomorrow's new message series on prayer -- hope you can join us.

Who will be the next generation of preachers? Today I met with an individual who might be one!

On Sunday, we discovered that the apostle Paul knew his death was near. His passion, therefore, was to equip a new generation of preachers. So he challenged Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2: "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and of His kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction." 

Who will be the next generation of preachers? Will you join me and pray? Luke 10:2: "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field."

Here are the results from Sunday's texting survey.

Does this survey accurately represent the whole congregation? Probably not. But it is good to see those who responded and their desire to chase after Jesus. One 12 year old told me on Sunday that he intends to read the Bible through!

What's your goal?

On Sunday, we did a live survey through our three services via cell texting of how much we are reading the Bible. These are the results.

• 71 % said they read the Bible 0 to 1 hours last week.
• 21 % said they read the Bible 1 to 3 hours last week.
• 8 % said they read the Bible more than 3 hours last week.

What do you think about those results? What does that say about what we truly believe about the Bible? And, how can we change the survey so that we are investing more time in God's Word?

What is the "canon"? The "canon" is the list of all the books that belong in the Bible. Check out the sites below for several good discussions on the canon.

What has intrigued me in my recent study about the Word is how the Word speaks of itself. 2 Tim. 3:16: "All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." Psalm 19:7: "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple." Psalm 119:152: "Long ago, I learned from Your statutes that You established them forever." Psalm 119:160: "All Your words are true." John 5:39: "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; but it is these that speak of Me." Romans 1:2: "the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures." Many verses could be added to this list of the Scripture exalting itself.

One could argue that it is circular reasoning to claim that a book is God's Word because the book itself claims it is God's Word. But what is noteworthy is that the Bible confidently, unabashedly speaks of itself as God-breathed, perfect, trustworthy, established forever, true, speaking of Jesus, holy, etc. Such confident claims from the Bible only reinforce other clear reasons to accept the Bible as God's Word. I hope you'll dive into the discussions in the links below.

http://www.desiringgod.org/Search/?search=apocrypha&x=0&y=0

(When you get to this page click on the first title that says, "Why We Believe the Bible," for the first discussion. A second discussion can be found by clicking on the last title that says, "Tested By Fire." Once that opens, go to Appendix 2.)

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we get to plunge into 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Memorized those verses as a kid but my study on them for this message has proved very fruitful and exciting. I'm excited to share them with you.

Additionally, my son David returns tomorrow from Budapest where he's been studying math! It will be great to see him again.

Hope to see you all tomorrow.

Ever wonder why we pray? 2 Timothy 2:25-26 reminds us of a number of reasons: "Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." These verses remind us why prayer is urgent.

1. Some people (maybe some you know) oppose God and His Word.
2. Gentle instruction (not dominating, Bible-thumping) is crucial to transmitting the truth.
3. God grants repentance -- that change of mind that causes us to have godly sorrow that makes us flee sin and run to Jesus.
4. Repentance is crucial to an ongoing growth in the knowledge of the truth by which spiritual bondages are stripped away.
5. The devil entraps people so that they are senseless when it comes to Scripture -- they understand but have no motivation to accept Scripture.
6. Some people live in captivity to Satan and his will.

Have you been "praying at all times in the Spirit" (Eph. 6)? Have you prayed with urgency for anyone this week?

Father God, please grant the gift of a godly sorrow kind of repentance in my heart and in the heart of (names not listed for privacy concerns). Amen.

Hey everyone, that was an amazing day yesterday! Thanks worship band for leading us. I did sense the Holy Spirit working in our worship and Word times yesterday. Tait, thanks for sharing your story about your friend in high school. "Gently instruct" -- isn't it amazing how God's Word just nails the real issues?!!

The mid-year review was very fruitful. A number of you verbalized how you sensed the Holy Spirit potentially leading you to do amazing things for Jesus! I'm praying and asking God to put together some effective Community Impact Teams. Tim and Eileen -- thanks for sharing. We'll pray with you and see what God does about your respective ideas!

Thanks, too, to our leaders who are an amazing group that are ready to follow Jesus wherever He goes.

I hope you remember this week to open your Bible and connect with God. Next Sunday -- the Bible is "inspired" -- what does that mean and how does that affect how we live?

Have a great week!

The Bible is powerful. Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Faith comes by hearing, according to Romans 10. The whole of creation was accomplished through the powerful Word of God, according to Genesis 1.

On a personal level, I have been encouraged, found wisdom and guidance, convicted of sin, given clarity of life-purpose, and come to Jesus through the Bible!

A young couple contacted me and wanted to know what God thought of their situation. They had recently moved in together and were not married, were having sex, and were wondering what God thought. I gently shared with them some thoughts and when I shared the words "flee immorality" (1 Corinthians 6:18), I saw the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the man's eyes. He was so convicted that he left the relationship, moved out and moved far away, and got back into church fellowship in order to find the help and encouragement he needed.

How has the Word of God powerfully shaped your life?

The picture below is of the "Great Isaiah Scroll" found in Cave 4 outside of Qumran, near the Dead Sea. This scroll dates back to about 150 to 250 BC! It contains almost the entire book of Isaiah and is 1000 years older than the previous oldest scroll of Isaiah that we had! Upon careful scrutiny, scholars found few discrepancies between the two texts! This shows how careful the scribes copied the Scriptures and handed them down to us today! The Bible we have today is reliable!