Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 32:20
Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven.

There is a consistent message which runs through the entire Bible: If we choose to stand with the Lord, we cannot lose. The claim has often been made, “God is with us!” However, the more important consideration is, “Are we with God?” Being with God may not always mean success in terms understood by the world around us. Hebrews 11 tells us of many who found victory by suffering and dying for the cause of the Lord. Throughout history, whether to live or die, a person standing with God has been found to be unbeatable.

King Sennacherib was right when he proclaimed that his armies had triumphed everywhere. But he did not know the God of Hezekiah and Isaiah! What a powerful team these two made. The King and the Prophet! They proved that there is more strength in fervent prayer than in weaponry, more power in faith in God than in armies.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, like Hezekiah and Isaiah, I’m praying and crying out to Heaven. The key verse for today and Your response bring great encouragement to me. When Your cause, Your Church, and Your people are mocked and held up to ridicule, I rejoice because I know that the scoffers will return home ashamed, as Sennacherib did. Thank You, Lord, for responding when I pray, and thank You for prayer partners. Like Hezekiah, I’m not alone! I pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

Many 100 Huntley Street viewers will remember Rev. Norm MacLaren. He led our prayer partners team for many years and would report daily from the prayer phones with news of what was happening on the phones and what God was doing in lives. Norm would give us a Word from God which helped provide courage to continue. Norm now serves with the great “Teen Challenge” ministry, helping to transform lives for time and eternity.

I had known Norm for years before he came on our full-time team. He and his family had told their story of God’s answer to prayer on the telecast when he was a New Brunswick Pastor. Shortly thereafter he was elected to the Board of Directors of Crossroads, where he served for 8 years. Then came a really big battle in the Crossroads ministry. Twenty-five years ago we found ourselves facing a large overrun in the costs of building the new Crossroads Centre. I would be in the Chapel crying out to God for His supply very early each morning. Then one morning I found a prayer partner who drove all the way from Kitchener-Waterloo to Burlington. Every morning, Monday through Friday, for several months he joined me in crying out to God in fervent prayer. You guessed it. It was Norm, who was at that time a Pastor of a great church in Kitchener, Ontario. He had big responsibilities in his congregation and he would be back on the job there at the usual time when he would be expected to be at his church, never neglecting his congregation. Like the two in today’s reading, we cried out to Heaven, and the Lord answered from Heaven and gave us a great victory. Thanks Norm for being an Isaiah to this would-be leader. The new building and TV production equipment was all paid for within several years without cutting back on existing outreach ministry television productions, and fresh new soul winning programs were developed. With changes in leadership Crossroads has debt once again and needs your sacrificial help. I’m sure there are blog partners reading this who also prayed and gave sacrificially to God so the ministry would continue strongly. Lorna, our precious and strong leader, needs your help big time!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!! Please forgive me for going way over my 100 words goal.

Yours for finding a prayer partner. Jesus said, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in Heaven” (Matthew 18:19). AMEN!!!

David