Six Goals of Satan That We Need To Be Aware Of

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

 In my book, Purpose of Prayer, I have come up with six wants, or goals, which Satan has been working toward since his fall.  Here is that excerpt.

 

1.  He wants to be God.  Satan (or Lucifer) was God’s highest-ranking angel, the most beautiful being God ever created.  According to Ezekiel 28:12, he had the “seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfection in beauty.”  God Himself was the only one more glorious than he was.  Then one day, being overcome by pride in his own wisdom and beauty, he decided in his heart that he wanted more.  What God had entrusted him with was not enough.  He said to himself, as Dwight Pentecost put it, “One as wise as I ought to be God; one as beautiful as I ought to be worshiped and not to worship another.” 

In his desire to be God, Satan set his will against the will of God.  In Isaiah 14:13 we have recorded for us Satan’s five-fold goal, or his five “I wills.” 

I will ascend into heaven. Here Satan was saying, in effect, that he aimed to move in, kick God off His throne, and take His place. 

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. Pentecost explains this to mean that he desired to “…exercise absolute independent authority over the angelic creation…” 

I will sit on the mount of the congregation, on the farthest sides of the north.  This, according to Pentecost, means that he was aiming to “bring the earth and all the universe under his authority.” 

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. Here Pentecost says that he was aiming to take for himself a greater glory than belongs to God.  According to Pentecost, Satan was actually suggesting that there was a deficiency in the glory of God and that he would complete what was lacking. 

I will be like the Most High. In this last I will, Satan was saying that it was his goal to be “responsible to no one but himself.”  Here, it is obvious that Satan doesn’t really want to be “like God” in His total character, that is, including His love and mercy, etc.  No no.  He just wants to be like God in that he doesn’t want to have any limitations or restrictions.  He wants to have total freedom and power, but he definitely doesn’t want to have any of God’s good qualities.

So we see in these five I wills that Satan, from the start, set his goals very high.  But I can’t believe, at this point in time, that he actually thinks he will achieve any of them, though for some reason he still tries.  

 

2.  He wants to destroy God.  In order to take the throne away from God he has correctly figured that God must be eliminated.  So throughout history he has tried to do that through the person of Christ.  In the Old Testament period he tried to eliminate Him several times by destroying His line; he tried to kill Him through Herod when he came to earth as a baby (Matt. 2:16); then he tried to kill Him at the cross.  But all his attempts have miserably failed.

 

3.  He wants to hinder all the works of God.  Even though he has become quite frustrated in his failed attempt to destroy his Creator, he still, with rage, tries to hinder all His works.  Therefore, he has been vigorously working to “deceive the whole world” (Rev. 12:9, NASB)—to “lead the whole world astray” (Rev. 12:9, NIV).  Hence, he tries to hinder our prayers, our growth in character, and all those who are in the process of coming to Christ.

He has hindered us by planting throughout the world his movie houses (theaters)—places to teach his doctrine.  He also creeps into Schools and Universities, and even into our churches to preach his evil propaganda, by which he endeavors to corrupt every mind.  With this goal Satan has done pretty well; nevertheless, there will always be a remnant that will remain pure and faithful to God.

 

4.  He wants our willful obedience and worship.  When Satan temps us he always tries to get us to question and doubt God in order to make himself a better option—so that we will choose to believe and obey him willfully.  Hence, when Satan said to Eve, “has God said,” and “you surely shall not die!” he, in his deception, was trying to lower her view of God so that she would, of her own will, choose to follow him instead of God.

Likewise, when Satan tempts us he will not overwhelm us with what he wants us to do, but he will deceitfully plant sugarcoated seeds in our mind, and then will germinate those seeds over time so that affection for those things are produced—“…since what a man loves [says Pentecost] ultimately he will serve.”

 

5.  He wants to exercise power over us and control us.  In Acts 10:38 it says, “… [Jesus] went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.”  The Greek word here for oppressed, katadunasteuomenous, actually means to exercise harsh control over, to use one’s power against, thus to oppress.  So, it seems that the devil enjoys the feeling of power and having power over someone—and he gets great pleasure in controlling us, in making us his subjects, and even in making and seeing us suffer.

 

6.  He wants to destroy us and he wants us to suffer.  He wants to tare us apart like a lion ruthlessly tares apart his prey without mercy (Hos. 13:8, Ps. 22:3, 1 Pt. 5:8).  Since he wants both our worship and our destruction, he may be torn between the two options.  I suppose he aims at whatever he thinks will give him the most pleasure; for he knows his time is short.

 

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Two Reasons Why Vigilance Necessary

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

There are at least two reasons why vigilance is necessary: one, because we are imprisoned in our unredeemed flesh, and sin constantly takes advantage of us; and two, because there is a devil.

 

1.  Because of our unredeemed flesh.  When we were saved the old man, with the sin nature, died with Christ (Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:17).  It is gone.  But we still have unredeemed flesh where sin retains a foothold.  I, with my new nature, no longer desire to sin, but sin still dwells in me and convinces me to sin—even though I hate it.  So we have this conflict within us.  Even though I have a new Christ-like nature, sin still dwells in me which at times I choose to obey (Rom. 7:15-23).  In those times when we harden our heart against God and choose not to listen to Him, the following things will result:

(1) Because we have chosen not to follow the Lord and listen to Him, God will in turn choose not to speak to us; His life will be cut off from us, and our minds will be darkened in our understanding of the things of God.  Then, if we persist in disobedience, this lack of understanding will cause our heart to be callous and we will choose to give ourselves over to sensuality—for the practice of all kinds of impurity and greediness (Eph. 4:18-19).

(2) Our obedience to sin will enslave us to it (Rom. 6:16, 7:15).

(3) Because of our sin there will be produced in us a feeling of shame (Rom.6:21).

(4) Inasmuch as we will be spiritually dead we will be unable to pray.

(5) Because we have given up vigilance in disobeying Him we will find that we won’t have the spiritual power to be vigilant.  Hence, we won’t be able to sense the urgency of the hour; we will have fallen asleep, so to speak, and will have forgotten about being watchful for His coming.

So we find that the more we sin the less we have the power to change ourselves—and we feel quite hopeless.  Therefore, lest we get into this kind of a predicament, let us stay alert and watchful, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and making no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Rom. 13:14).

 

2.  Because there is a devil.  A second reason why vigilance is necessary is because the devil is always near and we need to be aware of him.  Where there is sin or a draw to sin you can be sure that the devil has somehow been involved.  He is real and he is active.  It is important to have vigilance so we can better know what he is up to, what his nature is, how he is organized, and what his strategy is—for an ignorance of Satan and his maneuvers leaves us at a great disadvantage in the conflict, and brightens his hopes in overcoming us.  Yes, Satan does not want us to know about him or to even believe in him.  That way he keeps us in a hazy cloud and is more conveniently able to take advantage of us.

But many Christians believe, says A. Sims, “…that it is unnecessary for us to know Satan’s tactics, and that knowledge of God is the only essential equipment for service.  This [Sims says] is practically siding with the enemy; for all opposition to knowledge of the Foe is siding with the Foe.”   

With this in mind, here are a few things I believe God wants us to know about Satan, which will aid us in our further vigilance, to obtain victory over him: Satan’s goals, his character, his government, and his strategy.

This post is an excerpt from Purpose of Prayer.

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Two Purposes for Vigilance in These Last Days

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

As we have discussed, our vigilance, or the vigilance that God wants to give us will prepare us and make us fit to face and combat the forces of evil in the world.  But to what purpose?  In my study of vigilance, I have found two great purposes for vigilance: to help us in prayer, and to prepare us for the return of Jesus Christ.

1.  For prayer.  Prayer is perhaps the highest calling of God placed upon man.  It is that activity that moves God to do His own will, and which includes us humans in His work and connects us to His power.  It is also that exercise that both draws us near to God and persuades Him to give us what we desire. It is communication with God. Without prayer we all would be alone in the world, without God and without hope.

When we approach the throne of God for prayer we enter a place of holiness.  It is a heavenly place (Eph. 1:3) of pure light and love.  We cannot come to this place with a corrupt mind and with an unrepentant heart, weighted down with sin—for prayer and sin do not mix.  God requires that we come to Him purifying our hearts, mourning and weeping before Him over sins.  He requires that we totally submit our will to Him and that we try to resist all the temptations of sin and the devil (Ja. 4: 7-10).  When we prepare ourselves in this way, we are in effect becoming more alert and watchful, hence, more vigilant for prayer.  As 1 Peter 4:7 instructs us (in the NAS), “… be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”  

 

2.  To be ready for the return of Jesus Christ.  You may have noticed (above) that I didn’t quote the first part of 1 Peter 4:7.  That’s because I left it for this section.  The last part of the verse tells us that vigilance is for the purpose of prayer, but the first part gives us this second purpose.  It says, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore …” So here we see this second reason for vigilance—because the end of all things is at hand (He is coming).

There are also three other passages, in the gospels, which admonish us to be alert in preparation for His coming: in Matthew 24:42-44, in Mark 13:33-37, and in Luke 21:34-36.  These gospel passages, some would say, are written primarily to those living during the tribulation period, to both non-believers (to be saved and ready to enter into His kingdom), and to believers (to have strength to continue trusting Him and praying for strength to escape all the horrible things that are coming upon them, Lu. 21:36); however, the application here to alertness no doubt extends to us (the church) as well, to be ready for His return for us in the rapture.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 is clearly addressed to the church.  Here we are admonished to be alert so that we will be ready for Him when He takes us up in the “rapture” (1 Thess. 4:17, 1 Cor. 15:51-52)—if we are still alive when He comes.

Non-believers need to be alert also, because He will come without warning, like a thief in the night, to judge them.  And if they are not saved it will be too late for them (1 Thess. 5:2-4).

 If you are a Christian, however, that day should not overtake you like a thief, because you are already saved.  Nevertheless, believers still need to be alert, not so much to be ready just at that single day when He comes, but to be continually alert, praying without ceasing, so that when He returns He will have a reason to be proud of us—for I believe that our faithfulness here will greatly have an effect on our next life there.  Yes, everything we do now, whether good or bad, will affect our relationship with Jesus for eternity.  That’s why we need to be vigilant. 

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Vigilance: Being more in Touch with God

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

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Vigilance, I think, is an excellent word to portray the way we need to be in order to be prepared and fit to face and combat the forces of evil in this world. One who is vigilant, therefore, is one who is alert or watchful; thus he is able to stay awake (while praying), and is self-controlled.  He is also one who feels more “real”, more alive, and thus more in touch with what is real—God and heaven.

I use to think of heaven as a dream world.  I thought that when I died, and if I went to heaven, it would be just like falling asleep into a dream world, that it would be black and white and sort of fuzzy, people moving around in slow motion, like spirits floating from place to place.  But that is not what heaven is like at all.  Heaven is a place without sin; and without sin we will be more alive, more alert, and more real than we know reality to be right now.  No, heaven won’t be fuzzy or black and white.  We will see all the colors of the rainbow more clearly than we have ever seen anything before.  Why?  Because all things will be new, and we will have new bodies.  Yes, we will be truly vigilant!

In contrast, it also follows that when we give ourselves to sin and follow dead idols we will become just like them.  As Psalms 115:8 states about idol worshipers:  “Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them” (NASB).  Jamison, Fauset, and Brown comments well on this verse:

 No people or individuals rise in character higher than their gods.  Each man is as his god is.  The servant of the all-gracious God partakes of the divine nature (2 Pt. 1:4), His holiness and righteousness (Eph. 4:24, Heb. 12:10, 1 Jn. 3:2), being changed more and more into the same image (2 Cor. 3:18).  The servant of corrupt gods, whether material images or the idols of self, carnal imaginations, and pride of intellect, becomes debased like his idol. 

 I would add also, that, since an idol is dead and lifeless, he also becomes that way, and thus, without vigilance.

So it behooves us—if we want to partake of the divine nature, to feel more alive, and to be well prepared to battle evil—to set our mind to find vigilance. 

 

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God Sometimes Uses Natural Means to Heal Us – from 2 Kings 20:1-7

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

Some would say that when God heals He will always do it instantly and without any medicine.  I agree that He is certainly able to do that, and He has done that on many occasions, especially by Jesus.  But God also heals naturally, over a period of time, with the use of natural remedies.

This is exactly how God healed Hezekiah, who was deathly ill from a boil. Yes, God had originally intended for Hezekiah to die and He sent Isaiah to tell him so. But as it happened, Hezekiah prayed for his own healing and God changed His mind.  He decided to let him live for fifteen more years. 

Now the thing I thought was interesting is that He did it by the application of ointment from figs over a period of three days.

Why do I say this is interesting?  Well, mainly because just recently I hurt my wrist.  And I put some ice on it and bandaged it up.  And I prayed for God’s healing.  And guess what?  In about three days it was back to normal, just like the other wrist. But it’s also interesting because it’s not what we would expect; we would normally expect, from the Bible, stories of instant healing—without any oils or remedies.

But the tragic thing is that God heals us like He did Hezekiah all the time—and we even pray over it, but we don’t very often regard it as a genuine healing from the Lord.  We would rather call it a natural healing, or the body’s way of healing itself.  But in Hezekiah’s case, though natural means were used, it was still regarded as a healing by the Lord. Read it for yourself.  

 

2 Kings 20:1-7

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'”

7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.

NIV

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Claiming the Principles of Matthew 18:19-20 When Praying in a Group

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

 If we intend to have a prayer group and believe that the group will benefit us (and the kingdom of God), especially in regard to united prayer, then we need to find and hold to Biblical principles concerning groups.  Matthew 18:19-20 I think is a good passage to consider.  We will give our attention now to this passage. 

When we consider these verses we must make note, first of all, that according to the context, the agreeing talked about here is by the church members and it is for the purpose of expelling one who has refused to repent of sin.  This is the whole reason for the coming together to pray in His name.

But it seems to me that this principle of agreeing in prayer extends beyond church discipline; for verse 19 says, “…that if two of you agree on earth about anything…”

f03c47faf8100a7f02356a_L__V188819791_SX200_According to Wesley Duewel’s study on this passage, the agreeing and praying together “…is for every practical matter of kingdom business.”  Here, Duewel notes that “Jesus used the Greek word pragma, from which we get our word pragmatic.”  Hence, he translates it to mean “every practical matter.”

Jesus is not inventing a new truth here for only the problem of church discipline. Jesus has taken a well known kingdom principle, the principle of gathering and praying in His name, and has applied it to this problem of church discipline.  Therefore, this principle of prayer in His name, which includes agreeing in prayer, is applicable to all our needs, and Jesus uses it here for this need of discipline.

As we approach the truths of these two verses, we will first discuss the key to united prayer, which is to pray in His name.  Next, we will discuss what happens when we pray in His name—mainly that Jesus’ presence will be there with us as we pray.  Third, we will discuss how the Holy Spirit moves us together and causes us to agree. 

 

Praying in Jesus’ name (“where two or three are gathered together in My name”).  The act of gathering together and praying in Jesus’ name is the key to finding unity in prayer. We could say that it opens the door to all else that is necessary to finding it.

Now this is what it means to gather and pray in his name: first of all, it means that we gather as true Christians who bear His name and who represent Him.  This infers that we must represent Him well, that we must surrender our will and our identity and choose His will and pray according to His will.

Secondly, it means that we are giving God charge over us, that we are placing Him as the head over us.

Thirdly, in addition to representing Him and surrendering our wills to Him, gathering and praying in His name also means to live and pray in harmony with His Spirit—which is to make every effort to develop a love relationship with Him, for we are His bride, and He is our loving Husband.  Likewise, when we pray in the name of Christ we are, in fact, declaring that we are His and He is ours. Moreover, all that is His we can claim as ours because we are His bride and we share His name (Gal. 4:7).   And it is also true that because we are His bride, all that we are and all that we have is His.

 

Claiming His presence (“I am there in the midst of them”).  Praying in His name will guarantee for your group that His powerful, gracious, and glorious presence will come into your group.  Yes, He will manifest Himself in such a way that you will have no doubt that Jesus was there.  He will make Himself more personal to you—more real.  You will actually feel His presence; and with each prayer offered and with each scripture quoted you will hear His voice.

If praying in his name is the key to unity, finding His presence is our hope and our focus.  It is the zenith of what praying in His name really means.  Thus, when you struggle to pray in His name, as if you were climbing a mountain, when you finely get to the top and take your rest, that, you could say, is like the experience of finding His presence.  And it need not be a short experience.  We can be there in His presence for as long as we are able to pray and be gathered in his name, for when we are there in His name, doing His will and pleasing Him, He marvelously shows Himself to us.  The focus of prayer then is not to bring all of our requests to God to get them answered, rather it is to see and enjoy Jesus.

Likewise, the focus of the church (and each prayer group and Bible study group that operates under and as part of the church) is to experience Jesus Presence.  In fact, as Oliver W. Price points out, “Christ’s special presence is…essential for the life of the church.  When He departs from a congregation it dies.”

 

Agreeing together (“that if two of you agree…”).  When we come together (in a group) and pray in Jesus’ name, He comes to us and unites us together with Him and His Father.  And He unites our prayers with His prayers and His Father’s prayers so that we all agree together.  In this wonderful unity of mind and spirit, Jesus creates in us a power that releases us from fear, so that we are able to pray from our heart—to pray the things that God puts on our heart in front of the group.  He also gives us the power to love others in prayer; and He gives us a growing desire to pray for the needs of others.

When you come together for prayer I would encourage you to make a list of all the things you want to agree on.  If God has worked in your hearts so that you are all surrendered to Him, you will be amazed at how many things you will be able to agree on. 

This post is an excerpt from my book Joy of Prayer.

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Dark Dreams

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

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Dark have been my dreams of late. (King Theoden of Lord of the Rings)

 It’s not a common thing, but every once in a while my dreams will be dark—full of sin, discouragement, worry and dread.  And I hate it, because I think it reveals that  there is something deep in my memory banks—something that I am not consciously aware of, something that I have not dealt with.  

But in a way, these dreams may turn out to be a good thing—because it gives me a chance to pray over it, and to ask God to cleanse me of any hidden sins and things that I have long since forgotten.

Dark dreams could also be Satan attacking us, trying to discourage us and accuse us.  Again, we can use this as an opportunity—to pray against the devil.

I wish all my dreams were pure.  I want to dream of Jesus and of heaven.  I want to dream of doing good things for people—of doing deeds of love.

But since we live in a dark world I’m not sure that is entirely possible.

However, if we meditate on the word morning and evening that will help.  Joshua tells us to meditate on the word day and night (Josh. 1:8).  I think this means that when we meditate on the word during the day, especially at night, our subconscious mind will continue to meditate on it all night long.

Lord, bring out in our dreams your word.  Fill our dreams with the joy of your salvation.  Let us hope in your coming and dream of your house. (John 14:1-3)

But if it is your will to let us go through the darkness, give us the strength to face it and pray against it in you name. amen. 

 

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United Prayer: Four Ways to Achieve it – #4 Through Leadership

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

 

Whenever there is a strong spiritual leader who is sincere and has a heart for God and a burning desire to lead people to follow God, usually (if God has been working in the hearts of the people) many will rally around him, and be motivated, and drawn together in unity to follow that leader.  Such was the case with King Hezekiah and the people of Judah.  Though Hezekiah’s father was an idol worshiper, Hezekiah decided to follow God instead.  And he encouraged all the people in the land of Judah to turn to the Lord. 

Thus there was a great revival in the land.  Many of the people rose up as one people and removed the pagan altars (2 Chron. 30: 14); and they worked together and worshipped the Lord together.  When the Levitical priests prayed, they all prayed with one voice.  2 Chronicles 30:27 says, “Their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.” 

So here we see that united prayer was achieved by one man, Hezekiah, when he decided to obey God in leading the people back to God.  It can happen also today with you and with me.  By your obedience God may work through you to bring people together in united prayer.

 

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United Prayer: Four Ways to Achieve it — #3 By Our Diligence in Prayer Ministry

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

There are always things you can do together with others in your church, or in your family, or in any other Christian groups that will help you to achieve united prayer.  Here are a few ideas.  (Note that not all of these prayer activities are usually done in groups. Some may be accomplished alone in your own quiet prayer time.) 

1.  Prayer Chains.  This is where prayer requests, usually more urgent requests, get passed around by telephone until all the people on the chain have been reached.  The key to make this work is for each member to pray for the request immediately (!), and then immediately (!) call the next person on the list.  This method can be quite effective to get people involved and praying for needs.

2. Praying around the clock.  Here people are given the opportunity to pray around the clock, each person praying during a certain time.  Usually people would sign up for a certain prayer slot ahead of time, and hopefully all the time slots around the clock would be filled.  Where there is one particular urgent need, this method will provide a period of unbroken prayer for as long as people are willing to commit themselves to pray.  This method of prayer, especially for those who have committed themselves to wake up during the night to pray, can be especially taxing, but it can also bring the greatest rewards.

3.  A special day of prayer.  I’m sure you have heard of the National Day of Prayer, on which we are all urged to pray on that one day of the year for our nation.  But why stop there?  Some have suggested making each Sunday a special day of prayer.  I think that’s a great idea.  Let’s take one or two hours on Sunday afternoon to pray—individually or with family or friends.

4.  Prayer lists.  This is a great way to remind your weekly prayer group of what all the needs are.  Along with passing out the list each week I also suggest that you verbally encourage your people to pray for them all.  And if you pray for all the needs on the list (when you are in your group or in private prayer), God will give you a great peace when you pray for them—because you have committed them all to Him (Phil. 4:6-7).

5.  Praying around the world.  For this prayer activity you will want to get a hold of a few good Christian magazines, missionary news letters, or handbooks that provide current prayer requests for Christian workers and needs around the world.  It may be fun to have a few people in your group to do the research and then come together weekly and share the requests before you pray.  Praying around the world in this way is one of the best ways to strengthen united prayer.  Practice it in your church groups and in your family prayer time, but also in your own personal quiet time.

6.  Praying with other Christians from other churches.  Sometimes it’s good to get out of our own church and mingle and pray with other Christians, even with people of different denominations and with people of different races.  When you discover that they love Jesus as much as you do, it will be a thrill to your soul and will serve to strengthen United Prayer.

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Four Ways to Achieve United Prayer — #2 By Love

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Stephen Nielsen

United prayer is when believers are drawn together, in mind and purpose, by the Holy Spirit, to pray according to the will of God.  Thus it is the mighty moving on believers to pray what is on God’s heart.  United prayer reaches its climax when believers come together—when they are pulled together by the Holy Spirit—and pray in agreement.

United Prayer Is Acquired By Our Diligent Love toward All Believers

United Prayer is first achieved by praying for it.  But we should add to our prayers our love for all believers, thus making our prayers sincere.  True love may be the greatest motivation of true prayer; when we are diligent to love each other we tend to remember to pray for them.  Let us carry the spirit of love in our mind and in our prayers for all believers everywhere, whenever we see them, hear about them, and think about them.  But let us also be diligent to practice acts of love. The following are some practical ways you can love other believers:

1. Send money and notes of your appreciation to the missionaries and ministry groups that you think are doing a good job and that you regularly pray for.

2. Volunteer your time and service to your church and to any other ministry groups that you are concerned for.

3. Make it your regular habit to pursue peace with all people (Heb. 12:14).  Likewise, determine to resolve any negative feelings toward other races and denominations.

As much as you can, seek peace with all believers, and love them as your brothers and sisters; for your love for them is the will of God, and when you love them God will also draw you to pray for them.  You will find that love and prayer go together and can not be separated.

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