Five days before The Daniel Prayer was released, it was announced that I would take Shirley Dobson’s place as the Chair of The National Day of Prayer Task Force. While this had not been pre-planned by any human agent, it underscored that God is the Master of Perfect Timing! And it was drastic confirmation that He is indeed calling me, and His people, to pray with a fresh intensity during these tumultuous days of national storms.
Storms are rocking our world! Environmental storms that include earthquakes, floods, and forest fires; political storms such as Brexit or our own national, state and local elections; racial storms that boil over onto city streets and destroy peace; financial storms bringing despair with 94 million people out of work in America; medical storms as millions of people are enslaved by prescription drugs and heroin; international storms as Europe is invaded by refugees, conflict continues to rage in the Middle East, China builds up its military presence in the China Sea, and North Korea successfully launches long-range missiles. Each and every storm is not only life-threatening, but historically and potentially redefining a new normal. The storms are stunning in their number, in their scope, and in their powerful intensity!
What a privilege it was in July to call the 1300 people who gathered for the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines to pray as Daniel prayed. And it was a personal blessing to reconnect with four ordinary women whom God used in an extraordinary way to “just give Iowa Jesus” – filling the Wells Fargo Arena for our revival in 2008. (left to right: Lou Gray, Linda Osterhout, Judy Lauterbach and Sherry Griggs)
It’s time for you and me to take a deep breath, quiet our hearts, look up, and listen to what God has to say! Job reminds us that God speaks through storms!
Job was an Old Testament man who experienced devastating storms in his own life that included the total loss of his property, family, health, and reputation. The storms threatened to unravel his faith and his relationship with God. And then God spoke to Job out of the storm. Through His Word, He revealed Himself to Job. He reminded Job of His power. Of His sovereignty. Of His absolute authority over everything and everyone. Job’s response was to bow in worship as he accepted the storms God had allowed in his life… because of who God is.
In April I spoke to those gathered during a rain and snow storm on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, calling them to repent of their sin. Was God using the wretched weather to test the seriousness of our humility, prayer, and repentance as we sought His face on behalf of our nation? While I don’t know the answer to that question, I do know God spoke in that storm.
Ezekiel was another Old Testament man who had been taken captive in Judah, then transported 800 miles east to Babylon. While Daniel and others in his group were taken into the king’s palace where they were put into service, Ezekiel was discarded. He wound up in a refugee camp, sitting on a garbage dump beside a dirty irrigation canal. As he gazed into the distance, he saw “a windstorm coming out of the north…an immense cloud with flashing lightning….”1 Spread out above the storm was a crystal platform, and on the platform was a throne of sapphire, and on the throne was the figure of the Son of Man. Then the Man spoke to Ezekiel from the storm, and Ezekiel listened. He found a new sense of purpose as his life was redirected into giving God’s Word to God’s people.
Rich Bott became a dear friend when I joined the National Religious Broadcasters delegation to Israel in 2014. What a thrilling surprise and absolute blessing to learn that Living in the Light now airs every Saturday morning on the Bott Radio Network that includes 95 stations.
The disciples of Jesus also found themselves in a storm on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus saw them struggling and so He came to them in the storm. But they were terrified! So He spoke to them from the storm, Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid. His Word and His presence then brought peace.
Storms are an ideal time to listen to the Word of God. Because it’s through God’s Word that we refocus on who God is, finding comfort, peace, wisdom, security, purpose, strength, and hope.
As storms break out in our world…as storms break out in your world…double down on your commitment to read your Bible. Every day. Because God speaks out of the storms. Don’t miss what He has to say by getting caught up in the whirlwind of fear, panic, frustration, or anger. Instead. Center down. Listen…with your eyes on the pages of your Bible.
For His glory,
1 Ezekiel 1:4
“Awesome 8 days. GOD is speaking in every area of my life. If your goal was a revival, as far as I’m concerned you succeeded in a great big beautiful way!” – T
“What a life changing time these precious 8 days have been. It was as if I was personally walking through the Bible – there at every scene. Reading and listening was amazing. As a Christian of 27 years it feels as if I have started my walk afresh. If that isn’t enough I then opened my book ‘The Daniel Prayer’ and it was at page 131 that I started! SO, I wrote down my sins, added, subtracted three times and then prayed as instructed and today I feel completely different – a sense of peace I have missed for a long time.” – N
“Thank you so much for your tireless efforts to make God Speaking such a huge success! Stories from the Old Testament and the words of Christ in the New Testament have been absolutely riveting!” – L
“I am from Malaysia and I must thank you for God Speaking. I am still listening to the broadcast and was so inspired (Praise our Great God) that I started a weekly reading of Genesis with my aging mother (94) who reads from her Chinese Bible!! The Lord has kept His Promise to me to bless me when I devote my time to listening. When I heard that you are convinced our Lord Jesus Christ will return in your lifetime, I was very pumped to the point of being rapture ready daily. As a result, I always take the chance to share the Gospel in my community. Psalm 121″ – A
“I can’t begin to thank you enough for inviting me and so many others to receive the special eight-day gift of God Speaking. I knew it would be good but it was so powerful as His Word took hold of my heart in every verse.” – H
Now Available: Audio Book on CD or MP3-CD
Listen as Anne reads her newest book, which is based on Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9. It will help you pray effectively for your nation, for your family, and for yourself.
Changed my life! Practicing the principles daily right now and have given each Board Member of a ministry a copy! — R.
Thank you, Mrs. Lotz, for your testimony of personal struggle with prayer, (that speaks to) those of us who also struggle. — M.
I’ve read your book The Daniel Prayer and reading it again. Very powerful and in-depth teachings on prayer…the best book by far, that I’ve ever read on prayer! Savoring every word! — R.
One of the ladies at a retirement center shared that she’d read an excerpt from Anne’s book, The Daniel Prayer, and wept. She said she felt God telling her to start a prayer group at the retirement center. She is 90 years old! — E.
The Daniel Prayer Audio Book on CD
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Get into His Word using one of Anne’s class Bible Studies. Each study has a DVD and Leader Guide. Participant guides may be purchased separately. We are offering each study at a discounted price of $20 until January 31, 2017. Click here for more details.
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What storm has struck in your life? If you are God’s child through faith in Jesus Christ, He promises you and me five things.
I. YOU HAVE HIS PURPOSE Mark 6:45
II. YOU HAVE HIS PRAYERS Mark 6:46
III. YOU HAVE HIS PRESENCE Mark 6:47-48
IV. YOU HAVE HIS PEACE Mark 6:49-50
V. YOU HAVE HIS POWER Mark 6:51-52
Storms can be sudden, fierce, ongoing until they seem to suck the life out of us. We can become so preoccupied with storms, we are paralyzed by fear. Yet storms can be like God’s megaphone, getting our attention so we listen to what He has to say. Remember…God speaks through storms. Make sure you listen to what He has to say.
This Bible study has been adapted from one entitled, Five Things A Storm Can’t Destroy, published in Into the Word by Anne Graham Lotz, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010, page 65-69. Used by permission.
This Bible study was prepared especially for the Fall 2016 Newsletter.
It’s been said that if you have all Word and no prayer, you dry up. And if you have all prayer, and no Word, you flare up. But if you have prayer and the Word, you grow up!
This Bible study was prepared especially for the Summer 2016 Newsletter.
God has called me to give out His message. The name for this ministry has been a play on my initials, AGL, because in Scripture angels are God’s messengers.
For the past several years, God has burdened my heart with His message to call His people to repentance, revival, and a recommitment to serious prayer. Many of you have joined with me in one or more of our five online prayer initiatives: 777: An Urgent Call to Prayer; 911: An Urgent Call to Pray for Jerusalem; Mayday! Mayday! A Distress Call for Prayer; 911: A Recall to Pray for Jerusalem; and 111: Preprayer for the New Year.
It’s interesting to note that at the beginning of all things, in Genesis 1, God used prayer—the preparation of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters of a formless, empty planet, and the proclamation of His Word—and God said—to transform our world physically.1
At the center of all things, after the Cross, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus, His disciples prayed for 10 days. Then, on the day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed God’s Word. Not only were 3,000 people saved on that one day, but the Church was born.2 Once again our world was transformed, this time spiritually.
At the end of all things—which is where I believe we are today—the apostle Paul charges us to preach the Word.3 The apostle Peter exhorts us, when the end of all things is near, to be self-controlled so that you can pray.4
I have accepted Paul’s charge. I will continue to proclaim God’s messages from His Word, undergirded by AnGeL Ministries. But in addition, Peter’s exhortation has reverberated in my heart. While I have never considered myself a “prayer warrior,” and have even struggled with prayer in many ways, I have felt very compelled to pray, and to rally God’s people to pray also.
In retrospect, I can see that all of this was God’s preparation for me to be the new Chairperson of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. To confirm that this position was from God, like Daniel, I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting…5 God answered my prayer with a clear affirmation that this was His will. With joy, and some trepidation, I accepted this position.
Now I’m on tiptoe in my spirit, filled with expectancy to see what God will do. In a unique way, I will do my best to combine prayer and the proclamation of God’s Word in what I pray will be a powerful and effective movement of God’s Spirit. Who knows? Perhaps, by God’s grace and mercy, once again we will see worldwide transformation. Maybe…just maybe…God will use us to help prepare the hearts of His people for the return of the King.6
Please. Stand with me…on your knees. Pray for me as I give leadership to these two organizations. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
For the glory of His Name…
1 Genesis 1:1-31
2 Acts 1:12-14; 2:1, 14-47
3 2 Timothy 4:1-2
4 1 Peter 4:7
5 Daniel 9:3
6 Revelation 5:6-8
God is Speaking…Will You listen?
…Blessed are those you hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. — Revelation 1:3
Join together August 1-8, 2016 as we listen to God’s Word being read.
In the 8th month — August
For the first 8 days
For 8 hours — one hour per day
In these days of chaos and confusion, hopelessness and helplessness, what would happen if everyone hit life’s pause button and made time to listen to what God has to say? Let’s find out.
Catch the vision. Let’s ignite revival.
Partner with Anne Graham Lotz and Faith Comes by Hearing to saturate our nation and the world with God’s Word. Available in over 900 languages – online and on radio.
Click here to listen to Anne share about God Speaking.
Every day since she was a young girl, Anne Graham Lotz has been reading Daily Light, the life-changing devotional of Scripture compilations given to her by her mother, Ruth Bell Graham. Published originally in 1794 by Samuel Bagster, this is a revised leather-bound edition of the morning readings from the classic Daily Light. It includes Anne’s summary of that day’s Scripture, along with her thought-provoking questions and space for journaling.
Anne’s new book, based on Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9, will help you pray effectively for your nation, for your family, and for yourself. Anne answers questions such as:
Walk with Anne and find out just how far your prayers can take you.
If you would like to receive AnGeL Ministries’ full newsletter by email or postal delivery, click here to sign up for our free resources!
One of the blessings of participating in the National Religious Broadcasters Convention was the joy of reconnecting with old friends. Keith and Kristyn Getty sang before and after I spoke, leading all of us into the presence of God through their very worshipful music.
From time to time a friend will ask, “Anne, how can I pray for you?” My answer is often: “Please pray for wisdom. Discernment. I have so many decisions to make I need God’s clear direction.” If a prayer request could be worn out from repetition, then my prayer for wisdom is tattered and shredded. Besides my constant prayer, “Help!” the request for wisdom is the one I repeat most often. I need discernment regarding people. Insight into the Scriptures. Understanding of issues and situations. The mind of Christ. God’s wisdom to even know how to pray. Apparently, Daniel did, too.
One of the striking aspects of the Daniel prayer is that it was answered while he was praying. It seems illustrated by an experience I had in childhood…
It was a high privilege to give the closing message at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. I challenged those gathered to use their influence to get God’s people to pray like Daniel did—by their own example.
The first pair of binoculars I ever used belonged to my Daddy. They were very large, very heavy, and very black. He kept them in a big brown leather case, and I had to handle them carefully so as not to drop or damage them. I remember looking through them in order to be the first to spot the Indigo Bunting, a small bird that returned to our house every year. His appearance signaled the beginning of summer, and so it was much anticipated.
3 John 4 says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Unless it’s also to see my children imparting that truth to others. What an unspeakable blessing to share the platform with my daughter, Rachel-Ruth Wright, at the Calvary Chapel Women’s Leadership Conference in California. Her message based on Joshua 23 challenged those present to choose to be women of godly influence. Her life is a demonstration of her message.
He would make his presence known by the unique tune he sang while perched precariously on the very top of the maple tree below the rail fence in our front yard. He was so small that to my naked eye he looked like a black speck. When I first spotted him in the early summer, I would run get Daddy’s binoculars to verify the Indigo Bunting had returned.
However, when I first looked through the binoculars in his direction, everything would be blurred and out of focus: trees, leaves, mountains, sky, clouds all seemed to run together like a disoriented kaleidoscope. So holding the heavy binoculars as still as I could while adjusting the ring between the two eye-pieces, I would see him gradually come into sharp focus—a small, bright blue bird with black wings, swaying in the breeze on the top of the tree, heralding summer with his lilting tune.
Following the devotional I shared with the international staff of Trans World Radio, I was given the privilege of speaking to the “world” by way of their radio broadcast. How I praise God for their commitment to take the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the globe.
Sometimes my prayers remind me of those binoculars. Occasionally when I’ve begun to pray, my vision seems blurred. Fuzzy. As though my prayer is out of focus because I don’t know exactly what to pray for or how to pray. But like adjusting the focus on the binoculars while I looked through them, I’ve found that as I pray, my thoughts become clearer, my focus sharper, and my requests more specific.
Daniel seems to have experienced this while praying because he states that God gave him insight and understanding, “While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people…while I was still in prayer…” (Dan. 9:20-22). It’s encouraging to me to know I don’t have to know specifically how or what to pray in order to submit to my Father’s guiding whisper. Sometimes I’m intimidated to pray beyond the limits of what I can imagine or understand. But as I am praying, God can bring to my mind the thoughts and ideas that have eluded my own understanding.
What fun it is to attend a University of North Carolina Lady Tarheels basketball game. On this occasion I stood on the court along with the former NC governor, Beverly Purdue, and the University Chancellor, Carol Folt, as the Hall of Fame Coach, and beloved friend, Sylvia Hatchell, presented a large donation to the cancer fund named in honor of her former arch rival, NC State’s Coach Kay Yow.
Why is it that I think after I pray it’s my responsibility to do all I can to bring about the answer? Why do I take the battle into my own hands? Like a drowning person who tries to “help” the rescuer, I wonder how many times I have actually hindered God’s answer to my prayers. I find it encouraging to be reassured that I don’t have to know everything, understand everything, analyze everything before I pray for something.
This is true for all of us. We don’t have to have a clear comprehension of what the need is or what the solution should be. We don’t have to tell God how to “fix” things or even suggest what His course of action might be. We don’t have to solve the problem for Him. What a relief it is to know all we have to do is to get down on our knees and state the problem. The burden to resolve the situation is His, not yours and mine.
So…when I need insight and understanding, I get down on my knees.
For His glory,
1Adapted from Chapter One, The Daniel Prayer, Anne Graham Lotz, Zondervan Publishing, May 2016.
Release Date – May 10, 2016
Anne’s new book, based on Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9, will help you pray effectively for your nation, for your family, and for yourself. Anne answers questions such as:
Walk with Anne and find out just how far your prayers can take you.
Pre-order your copy today through any online retailer and receive exclusive bonus gifts from Anne.
Please click here to learn more.
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