Top Priority Prayer Needs

A woman thanked us for our site and said, “I typed in Google suicide+christians and your site was first on the list.” My first reaction was to see this a huge praise point but it begs the question: does God regard our page as truly the best in the world on this subject? Probably not.

The last thing we should want is for net-burst.com to be exalted. What we should want is nothing less that Jesus reigning as Lord of the Internet. Let’s earnestly pray that God be in control of search engine rankings, so that sites be ranked not by change or money or human popularity or anything other than what God regards as the best webpages – those that in his eyes most accurately and powerfully present his truth, glorify his name and best meet the needs of readers (including follow up, prayer support, etc).

This is a mind-bogglingly enormous prayer request but it won’t happen unless we dare to pray.

* That our internet pages be holy, untainted by human pride, ignorance or anything less than what God wants. That visiting the webpages will be entering into God’s presence – a divine encounter. That God supernaturally draw people to them and then cause visitors to immediately focus upon those parts that will most powerfully speak to their need. That the Spirit of God do a powerful work in each visitor’s heart as they read – convicting, challenging, illuminating, inspiring, encouraging, or whatever is that person’s most pressing need. That even as they read, many experience the power of God on them to a degree they have never before experienced. That vast numbers of hurting Christians be effectively ministered to and released into ministry. That every person visiting the sites fall more in love with Jesus, long to serve him with greater devotion and be more empowered to do so. That this experience have a life-changing effect upon them.

* That the deception of Satan be broken in the hearts of unbelievers. That they be granted divine revelation. That they see the beauty, majesty, power, holiness, goodness and love of God with such clarity that they loathe themselves for their indifference or bitterness toward him and fall in love with their Saviour. That there be literally thousands of conversions.

* That God raise up huge numbers of translators, who are anointed for the task and know God’s calling. That no one who isn’t God’s choice will get involved in it. That each language be completed in God’s time.

* That the easy English version be empowered by God – that every word be divinely chosen for greatest effectiveness and that it be read by the vast number of people who, by reason of their limited English skills, need it.

* That God raise up people of his choice to create graphics filled with his creativity, skill and power. That the entire webpage design be of God. That it be effective across as many different internet platforms as possible.

* That large numbers of people find great fulfillment by being involved in the internet work the Lord has given us. That they feel the call of God and that they see it as their ministry – not merely assisting someone else’s ministry. That an abundance of people be raised up for each facet of the work – the Ministry Team, answering e-mail, etc., - especially those who can find fulfillment in this to an extent that they can’t in other ministries, such as those who are housebound due to disabilities.

* That divine protection be upon the sites and all the material on them. That the sites not be lost through providers going out of business, or whatever, or files be lost or time lost by providers being off line due to computer failure, viruses, etc. That God prevent radicals (or pranksters) from harming the sites.

* The Lord raise up people with home page skills to improve webpage design, get more of my writings on to the web and perform other helpful tasks.

* That we not go ahead of God, nor drag our feet. That nothing (eg lack of faith or whatever) other than God’s divine purpose hold us back.

* That we think big. That we think God’s thoughts and move in the realm of the humanly impossible. That through aggressive prayer, a bigger and bigger slice of the internet become Christ’s. That God be in control of trends such as commercialisation, moves by media Mongols, government interference (especially in countries that already restrict access to the gospel) etc that could limit the effectiveness of the ministry the Lord has entrusted to us. That ungodly and anti-Christian sites collapse either physically, or in popularity. That Christians around the world use the internet for the glory of God rather than merely promoting their own organisation or ego. That Christian sites be modified to increase to the maximum their effectiveness in reaching non-Christians, rather than merely appealing to Christians. That there be great co-operation amongst Christians, with no unhealthy sense of rivalry. That skills, insight etc be freely shared. That we be used of the Lord to improve the quality and effectiveness of other sites and ministries.

* That the Lord take full control of who e-mails us for prayer, counseling etc. That no e-mails go astray, have a wrong return address etc. That all who should contact us do so, and no others. That we respond to these opportunities in the exact way God wants.

* That those without internet access be effectively ministered to. For example that hard copies be widely distributed by creative means (eg faxes, etc.) That the files go beyond the web to bulletin boards, disk distribution, CD ROMS, etc. That mini-prayer chains be established all over the world by those with internet access phoning etc those who don’t have access.

* That all the webpages be fully promoted on all major Internet search engines, indexes etc and be worded and designed with great wisdom and creativity so as to appeal to those most needing to visit the pages. That the number of links simply explode by miraculous acts of God, especially the number of links placed on secular webpages. That the links be predominant, and that the Spirit of God make them even more predominant in the minds of those who most need to visit the pages. That we be led of God as to whether we should get involved in paid advertising, and advertising off the web in magazines, etc.

I’d rather your partnership than have the world’s greatest computer experts, graphic artists, millionaires, psychiatrists and counselors. Not only can effective pray-ers achieve far more spiritually, they can pray in anyone else who’s needed.

90% of the body of Christ has no idea what’s going on. They look to the evangelists, missionaries, platform ministries and think they’re the big shots. Wrong. The power in the body is the pray-ers. In the age to come, when all is revealed, there’s going to be some very big shocks. Those presently in the limelight are getting their reward already – the accolades. But the pray-ers are depositing their reward in heaven – and I tell you, heaven’s interest rates are out of this world!

Sometimes pray-ers have frail bodies, but in reality, they are the tough ones – the strongest people in the entire body. Pray-ers do battle with the enemy and persist when everyone else would have given up. It’s easy to be faithful when you’re in the limelight, when everyone pats you on the back, hangs on to your every word and prays for you. The pray-ers’ task is far more challenging. Satan loves throwing over pray-ers the wet blanket of discouragement and deceptive feelings of insignificance. He’s a liar. He knows if he can convince pray-ers that they are not vital, he’ll cripple the entire body.

It’s been said that prayer is the battle. All other service is mopping up after the battle is won.

So please make personal use of the prayer chain. We need each other. I put in personal requests from time to time and I’m no more important to this ministry than any of you. Pray-ers are on the cutting edge, and without each other’s covering we’ve vulnerable to Satan’s attack – especially the subtle but deadly attacks of discouragement. Don’t be embarrassed to admit a need, such as admitting that you’re finding prayer a struggle. Such admissions are not a sign of weakness. They’re a sign of wisdom.