A few comments from the MWF Conference Call Praying Group. Try joining us. We are on at 7:00 am (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and are completed by about 7:30 am.
Click here for our FB Group Page.
And click here for our Web Page.

From CH in Georgia, Feb. 1:
Thank you brother. I enjoyed the time. I will be on regularly

From RG in Indiana, Feb. 1:
Thank you Mark for leading this sweet half-hour time of prayer over the phone! I appreciate hearing the hearts of those who join us as they pray and praise God. Just added some new. Continue seeking His face. We’re never disappointed when we do so!

From BE in N Carolina Feb. 13:
I love you , Mark. It’s blessing me being a part of this prayer group.God bless you…

From CD in Georgia, Feb. 14:
I’ve missed the calls. I’m hanging in there!! Hope y’all are doing great!

Back and Forth Conversation between me and JT in Alabama on Mar. 1:
MM
Heard from a friend today, who said that these conference call prayers are teaching him to pray more personally, instead of, “Lord, we…” he is now praying more, “Lord, I…”
This is the kind if stuff that thrills my heart!
JT
Didn’t really think about it until I read this post, but I have found myself speaking in the “I” rather than the “we” lately too. What a blessing.

Back and Forth Conversation between me and BE in N Carolina and JT in Alabama on Mar. 6:
MM
I love the fact that while 5 people did most of the praying, we had 7 people on the phone. I love that people can get on the phone, and just listen in. Sometimes technology is good!
BE
I’m thankful too. I love being on the phone praying with you guys.
JT
There are times when silent prayer is golden. A couple of times last week my cell connection was terrible. Too avoid losing a connection while praying I decided to just listen and what a blessing to hold on to each word as The Lord hovered over these men of God. Thank You Lord for this CTMPrayer group.

Back and Forth Conversation between BE in N Carolina and JT in Alabama on
Mar. 8:
BE
I’m so blessed to be a part of this ministry and praying with these men. Never met them, but feel connected to them. As my former pastor would say “Its a God thing”.
JT
I agree with you. I so look forward to the three days we join in praising our Lord. How Great He is. When I have to miss a day I have an empty space in my heart and I pray like crazy will driving to fill the void . God bless you brother. Looking forward to Monday. Oh yea:) God bless all those in our group and an extra blessing on Mark, who listened when God spoke for him to gather us.

Back and Forth Conversation between BE in N. Carolina, JT in Alabama and LT in Maryland on Mar. 18:
LT
Those times of silence were reverential and a form of listening prayer in the presence of Jesus.
BE
Amen! I find it hard for me to be silent when praying, yet I know it pleases the Lord to sit in silence before Him.I think of the times I set on the floor near my earthly father, sometimes talking and sometime just enjoying being near him. Sometimes we talked, sometimes I just listened and sometimes we just sat together. It was always good to be near him. Same with my heavenly Father. Always love being in His presence.
JT
How great, through the urgency to pray to our Father, to just be still and feel His presence and speaking to all of us, even though we are separated by many miles, never met except through our prayer group, yet one with Christ, praise God!!!!
BE
Amen brother. Praise God.

From LT in Maryland, Mar. 20:
All I can say is that Songs that we sing in worship are food–food of the Capstone Jesus! That was quite a discovery for me when I did this study on the word ‘SONG’. May others be encouraged.
Here is a link to his word study.

We would love to have you join us. The first time you get on, if you just want to listen, that is quite okay! Remember, we start at 7:00 am Eastern Time, and are on for about 1/2 hour. to call in you will dial (605) 562-3000 and then you will need access code 347361. If you are somewhere that is noisy you can mute your end by hitting “*6″ and then to un-mute hit “*6″ again.

Join us soon!

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

You might be asking, “What in the Wide, Wide, World of Sports are you talking about?”

This is an opportunity for you to begin your day in corporate prayer.

Check out our Web-page here, and/or our FB page here.

Feel free to just get on and listen. You don’t have to participate until you’re ready. You’ll be blessed just listening to others pray.

We look forward to you joining us.

Mark S Mirza

January 28 – February 1, 2013

Sometimes I think I should give regular weekly posts, updating what is happening at Common Thread Ministries. But I think, that is why I have the social media that I do…Facebook, Twitter, etc.

But today I think, is worth a quick post.

Monday we had our first Pastors’ Prayer Made Alive Conference. You can see who the speakers were by clicking right here.

And then, partly as a consequence of the conference, and partly as a response to the need to encourage us unto prayer, we started a 7:00 am Conference Call Prayer Time. We are over in 30 minutes, and we cover Praising/Thanking God, then Urgent Prayer Requests, then Praying for our Family, and then Praying for our Church/Ministry. You’ll find the details right here.

A Few Prayer Requests:

• Of course, pray for me, that I would stay, as a friend of mine likes to say, “Clean and close.” But remember also Colossians 4:2-4, as I pray for you, that you would be devoted to prayer, I trust that periodically you would pray for me, praying that God would open doors so that I can preach this message on prayer, and that I would proclaim it clearly, as I know that I should.
• Pray for these upcoming Pastors’ Prayer Made Alive Conferences, May 20 in Metter GA and September 23 in Morven GA. Pray for the host churches that they would be urged by the Lord Christ, and the love of the Holy Spirit, to join in the struggles of pastors in their area (Romans 15:30), by praying for their participation. We are taking registrations by clicking here.
• And then finally, pray for these Monday, Wednesday, Friday conference call prayer times, that by God’s will, folks would come together with joy, and together be refreshed (Romans 15:32)

Blessings to you,

Mark S Mirza

Click Map for "The Day After Series"

Prayer and the Elections (Romans 13:1)

BROKENNESS, A FIRST LOOK

THE EXPERIENCE OF BROKENNESS

My wife has, quite correctly, warned me about being legalistic, as this blog subject, “Brokenness,” moves forward. And she’s right.  I see the real need to be careful about not stating things legalistically, not letting you look at this legalistically, and yet, not hiding from what scripture really says. As you read this, try to keep that balance, okay? Unfortunately, it will be very easy to become legalistic if we are not careful.

Here’s the problem. I need to describe something, in scripture,  that many of us have never experienced, rarely experience, and/or don’t understand when we DO experience it. And because of our experience, or lack there of, there can be a tendency to believe that, until you experience it FULLY, “you are not doing it well enough!” If we go there, that is legalism.

Recognize that not everyone has the same emotional make-up. Our emotions are all different. For example, I rarely cry when I pray. When someone, who cries EVERY time they pray, hears me pray, without crying, should they wonder if I don’t pray as well as them? Let me say it differently, in the same scenario, does it mean that I should look at my prayers as inferior, because I don’t cry? That, my friends, is legalism.

So with all of this said, in the few paragraphs below, be sensitive to where your brain may go and make sure that you do not judgmentally decide that your prayers, or someone else’s prayers, are substandard because you, or they, do not experience brokenness “well enough.”

Okay, “The Experience of Brokenness.” Let me state the bottom line, in two questions, before we even read the passage that is our guide. First, do you have a sense of brokenness and sorrow for your sin, even AFTER you have asked for forgiveness? And two, how does God want us to react to sin?

Begin with Isaiah 59:2, where we read that sin causes a barrier, between us and God. Consider also Lamentations 3:44 where we see that our sins are like a cloud that our prayers cannot pass through. And then there’s my favorite (NOT!!!), Proverbs 28:9 which makes plain that God isn’t interested in my prayers when I’m not obedient. But you may say, “Mark, that’s the Old Testament.”

Before I go on, let me just ask a simple question, “Do you believe that when you sin, you need to deal with it?” If so, then I would ask you, “How are we to deal with sin in our life?”

Alright…Are you ready for this? In James 4:8-10, the God of the universe is telling us how to respond to sin, in our life. The New Testament God of the universe, speaking to already saved individuals, through James, is talking about AFTER we have drawn back to Him, cleansing our hands and purifying our hearts (James 4:8). It is at THAT point, that God is saying the response from us is to be, misery, mourning and weeping (James 4:9). Now there is hope (James 4:10) but we will talk about that in a future blog.

There it is, misery, mourning and weeping (James 4:9). That’s the crux of the blog today. I’d sure be interested in your thoughts. Interesting, this admonition has NOTHING to do with political party, does it?

May I just close with one suggestion, start asking God to cause you to be broken before Him…regarding sin in your life.

If you are not to sure you have any sin to deal with, go the questions on this link, (these are the questions I use when I do A Solemn Assembly in your church). You might be a bit surprised what the Lord lays on your heart…to deal with.

Mark S Mirza
Common Thread Ministries

If you have heard me do A Solemn Assembly, you’ve heard these questions below. Many of you have asked for them and I now have the permission of the author.

These print best on a legal size 8 1/2 x 14 sheet of paper.

Click the icon below (or here) to get a clean .PDF version.