As I noted in the first of my columns on last week’s meetings between Donald Trump and cultural conservative thinkers, leaders and activists, I was privileged to serve on the steering committee brought together by Bill Dallas, who leads United in Purpose, and the leaders of  that organized the meetings.  

While the news media portrayed the events as Donald Trump meeting with “Evangelicals,” the big town hall-style meeting at the Marriott Marquis on Times Square included about 1,000 individuals representing most of the conservative movement’s cultural conservative organizations, interests and issues. 

As a member of the steering committee I also had the opportunity to meet with Donald Trump in a much smaller group setting, and in both meetings I was anxious to ask Trump a version of a question that I have put to many post-Reagan Republican candidates, and that I urge conservatives to ask of every candidate for any office:

Mr. Trump, 

Candidates for public office often promise us conservatives the sun, the moon, the stars—and sometimes they even believe it. 

But conservatives have learned the hard way that personnel is policy, and if the candidate, upon assuming office, puts into key positions mostly captains of industry, Fortune 500 executives, and Wall Street types, we lose—our issues will not see the light of day.

Because of your extensive business background, the people you’ve walked with for the last 45 years, your friends, your business associates—with few exceptions—do not share our views and values on our most important issues, such as traditional values, cultural issues, limited government, opposition to crony government and religious liberty.

Why should conservatives, who have strongly-held views about these issues, have confidence that, if you’re fortunate to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January 20, you will appoint people to key positions in the White House, such as White House Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Chief of Personnel, and cabinet positions, such as Attorney General and Health and Human Services, who share the views and values of us conservatives who are the base of the Republican Party? 

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to ask that question in either the small group meeting—which was largely Donald Trump delivering a campaign speech to us—or in the large town hall meeting which focused mostly on religious liberty. 

The closest Donald Trump came to addressing that question was in his comments about judges, and making his judicial appointments from candidates suggested by the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. 

That was encouraging, but it didn’t really address my concerns, which were first raised a few months ago during CNN’s GOP Town Hall in Columbia, South Carolina when Anderson Cooper asked Donald Trump, “Would you want all Republicans in your cabinet?”  

“No, not necessarily,” Trump responded. “I want the best people.” 

I hate to say it, but that was almost word-for-word the answer Mitt Romney gave me when I asked him the personnel question back on October 1, 2007 when he was running in the Primary against John McCain. 

In fairness, Trump has come a long way since that CNN town hall in South Carolina and he has, from the beginning of his campaign, assembled a solid inside group of cultural conservative supporters. 

Rev. Jerry Falwell, Jr., Phyllis Schlafly, Gov. Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Pastor Paula White, Darrell Scott, former Pentagon official Joseph E. Schmitz and conservative talk show host Sam Clovis, to say nothing of Senator Jeff Sessions and some of his top staffers, have been advising Trump from the beginning, but these conservatives, good people as they are, are Donald Trump’s new friends. 

And we all know that top government appointments do not go to the applicant with the highest SAT score. When it comes to political appointments “the best” is a highly subject judgement. 

So my concern is not with Donald Trump’s new conservative friends, my concern is with his old friends, the Wall Street types, the Palm Beach society types, the sports and entertainment types who have been Donald Trump’s associates over the long course of his business and entertainment career. 

If Donald Trump were to appoint a distinguished Wall Street lawyer as his Attorney General, chances are the cultural conservative agenda would get short shrift, the same thing if he were to appoint a Palm Beach society doctor as Surgeon General or a leading figure from the insurance or medical industry to head the Department of Health and Human Services.  

Anyone of those individuals might qualify as among “the best,” but they probably wouldn’t be the “best conservative” for the job, and that should be our goal as conservatives—getting the best conservatives available appointed to key positions in the next administration. 

Clearly, it does not come naturally to Donald Trump to speak the language of cultural conservatives, politically active Christians, the Bible and the Constitution. 

But, just as clearly, we have him looking our way on a number of important issues: judicial appointments, matters of conscience and religious liberty, and reining-in the use of government enforced political correctness to stifle Christian witness in the public square. 

If I were to summarize my takeaway from my meetings with Donald Trump it would be this: We have a start, because we have Donald Trump at the negotiating table.  

If you read Donald Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, and listen carefully and parse what he says, one thing comes through loud and clear: What interests Donald Trump is not closing the deal; it is negotiating the deal.  

It is the pursuit that interests Trump, not necessarily the close. 

And what this should tell conservatives is that remaining engaged in the communication and education process with Donald Trump is the most important part of the “art of the deal”—simply offering up support and expecting Trump to be on board with our agenda is to disregard his history and the plain words of what he has said in books and speeches spanning decades. 

The good news is, Trump has offered conservatives a vehicle to do that, a group referred to by Politico as Trump’s “Evangelical Advisory Board” which includes, among others, my old friend Dr. James Dobson, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Ralph Reed, Founder, of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, and one of cultural conservatism’s sharpest political minds. 

We know there’s no negotiating on our issues with Hillary Clinton, so it is to Trump that right-of-center voters will have to look if our country and constitutional liberties are to survive, and it is to us that Trump must look to find the votes necessary to win the election.  

We have an opportunity to negotiate a win-win deal with Donald Trump, but the burden to make clear what our priorities are, and that personnel is policy is one of those priorities, is now on us.  

I urge CHQ readers to prayerfully consider how they can get engaged in the Trump campaign and contribute to the effort to educate Donald Trump and his team on how, and most importantly, who can best advance the cause of governing America according to limited government constitutional conservative principles.

Richard A. Viguerie transformed American politics in the 1960s and ’70s by pioneering the use of direct mail fundraising in the political and ideological spheres. He used computerized direct mail fundraising to help build the conservative movement, which then elected Ronald Reagan as the first conservative president of the modern era. As the “Funding Father of the conservative movement,” Viguerie motivated millions of Americans to participate in politics for the first time, greatly expanding the base of active citizenship. He is our era’s equivalent of Tom Paine, using a direct mail letter rather than a pamphlet to deliver his call to arms.

With Matthew 24 coming to fruition all around us, it’s hard not to wonder, “Is this it? Are we in the prophesied end times?”

What’s more unsettling though, can be thoughts of what the future may hold. 

“I’ve heard a lot about asteroids that might hit the earth, or new diseases that could destroy all life, or new weapons of war, and I can’t help but be worried about the future. Is this the way the world is going to come to an end?” a reader asked famed evangelist Billy Graham in a question-and-answer column.

Graham was unfazed and doled out this wisdom: 

The world as we know it will only come to an end in God’s time and in God’s way—and only when He intervenes to usher in a perfect world of peace and righteousness. As the Bible says, “But, according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).

This doesn’t mean natural disasters won’t continue until then (just as they always have), or that wars and injustices will cease—not until Christ comes again. In fact, the Bible indicates that one of the signs of Christ’s approaching return will be renewed violence upon the earth—such as we are seeing today. The Bible says, “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled … the end is still to come” (Mark 13:7).

But listen: The future is in God’s hands, and that should give us great confidence and peace. And it will, as we commit our lives to Christ and learn to trust Him in every situation. Then we can honestly say with the Psalmist, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Ps. 91:2).

Is your faith and trust in Jesus Christ? Make sure of your salvation, by turning to Him and by faith committing your life to Him. Then ask Him to help you trust your future into His hands every day and not allow fear to overcome you.

My poor husband! I can sometimes be one of those “squirrel” people—you know the ones. You may be having a conversation, and in the middle, the person to whom you are talking or who is talking to you gets suddenly and radically distracted by something completely off topic. Dave can be talking, and out of the blue, I will point at something, change the subject or otherwise divert the conversation. This is always completely unintentional, but frustrating just the same. I can even do it to myself! I will be talking to another person and all of a sudden, my mind gets hijacked by something I see or by an interrupting sound. Worse yet, I sometimes can’t even remember what I was talking about when my attention comes back around to the person I was originally talking to!

So when contemplating the difference between hearing God and listening to Him, I fully understand the distinction between the two. Unless one is deaf or hearing impaired, hearing is simply an automatic sensory activity. We don’t need to actively “do” anything to hear. Sound happens. What we choose to do with what we hear involves the activity of listening. I know this about myself as well. When I don’t pay attention to what someone is saying to me, I will have to ask them to repeat it or just try to fake that I was listening instead of hearing, “blah, blah, blah,” while my mind was elsewhere!

Listening involves attentiveness. It is attaching meaning to what we have heard. It is also intentionally acting upon what is heard by responding appropriately. Because this is sometimes a struggle for me, depending upon the situation, I have to work at and practice the spiritual discipline of listening well. Prayer often involves active listening because there are times when prayer is relational conversation. There are also times when just being in His presence and “being” is enough. This has been called “keeping company with God.” I love those times of intimacy—just knowing that He is with me and I am with Him.

But picking up the voice of God when He speaks to my heart is a completely different prayer experience. I wonder how often I have heard God speak, but because I wasn’t fully and actively listening, I’ve either not obeyed or have missed a blessing. So often, God spoke and still speaks to people who didn’t or still don’t want to listen. Scripture is filled with examples.

In order to become a better listener in conversational prayer, I must practice truly listening to what I hear and gaining understanding. The disciplines of silence and solitude are very helpful and necessary for my transformational growth in listening to God. If I don’t spend time nurturing my soul in this way, I can easily be the person James admonishes: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man viewing his natural face in a mirror. He views himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:22-24).

God is very clear about whom we are to listen to: “While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him'” (Matt. 17:5)! And Jesus, by example, practiced getting away from the noise and the crowds to hear God in silent, solitary places. How much more should we?

In biblical times, people heard from God but didn’t always listen to Him, which means they did not obey. For me, it comes down to paying “close attention” to what is heard from Jesus: “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Then He added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them” (Mark 4:23-25, NLT). What a powerful promise and warning! One who demonstrated listening for understanding in Scripture was Mary of Bethany, “who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word” (Luke 10:39).

It’s easy to listen to the wrong voices in our culture today. Amid all of the distractions, hearing the voice of Jesus is sometimes very difficult; however, it can be discerned more easily through practicing the disciplines that our Lord engaged in. One of my deepest desires is to get into a much better rhythm of silence and solitude in order to “listen to Him.” {eoa}

Kim Butts is the co-founder of Harvest Prayer Ministries and the author of The Praying Family 

© 2015 Harvest Prayer Ministries.  

A unique Israel-based ministry is looking to connect believers around the world to the Jewish believers in Israel in a very personal way. It’s called Bless Israel Network.

The network’s initial project is a program called Revelation to the Nations. It’s the first-ever dedicated internet TV platform and worldwide voice for the Israeli body of Jewish believers. Hosts Daniel and Devorah Calic, who have lived in Israel for several years, discovered something which most of the body around the world might consider surprising.

A Startling Revelation

The majority of believers around the world have minimal contact with the Israeli messianic community. Most churches have little or no knowledge of what their believing brethren are doing in God’s Holy Land. A small number of churches will occasionally have a leader from Israel’s messianic community as a guest. Generally these guests are part of the handful of thriving Israeli congregations or ministries that have the resources allowing them to travel frequently to maintain support from believers around the world. 

What the Calics have discovered is the vast majority of Israeli Messianic congregations and ministries are small, and lack the necessary resources to travel and get needed support.

They’ve also discovered this vibrant community of small congregations and ministries is providing much needed humanitarian aid. They’re eager for their voices to be heard outside Israel. It is these unheard, underfunded congregations and ministries that the Calics are committed to provide a platform for.

Unique Program

This first-of-its-kind program has some additional interesting aspects. For example, the contact information of the guests will be provided on the program, allowing viewers to establish personal connections with the congregation or ministry of their choice, giving viewers the opportunity to bless them. That blessing will play a direct role in building the kingdom in Israel because it will allow these congregation and ministries to expand their humanitarian outreach. Scripture says, speaking to Abraham and his descendants, “I will bless those who bless you.”

Forging Previously Unheard of Relationships

Bless Israel Network will focus on congregations and ministries engaged in humanitarian outreach. In spite of Israel being second only to Silicon Valley in cutting edge technology, there is widespread humanitarian need throughout a cross section of Israel’s social spectrum.

For example, almost 200,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel. They are elderly, in frail health, many live alone and 50,000 of them live in poverty. It’s a huge challenge, which is only partially being met. Israel also has many thousands of Jewish immigrants from around the world who have fled their native countries due to anti-Semitism, unhealthy living conditions and a hope for a better life.

Many make aliyah to Israel out of a desire to live in the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. These immigrants face numerous assimilation issues, such as housing, language challenges, medical care, employment, legal assistance and so on. In fact, the need is so great the government is quietly partnering with some of the messianic ministries because they cannot meet all the needs themselves. More arrive on a regular basis.

This has fostered previously unheard of opportunities for relations between Jewish believers and the traditional Jewish community. Many of the congregations and ministries whose leaders the Calics will interview are at the forefront of this trailblazing social phenomenon. Revelation to the Nations will provide them a voice.

Well-Known Leaders Support BIN

Recently, the Calics recorded the pilot episode of Revelation to the Nations in order to provide a glimpse of what viewers can expect. Their initial guest is Eitan Shishkoff. They chose Shishkoff, but not because his congregation is small or that he is not well-known, but because Shishkoff is one of the most respected Messianic leaders in Israel. He was chosen because of the wonderful project he is heading up, which will bless the entire body of believers in Israel. The interview can be found at .

Revelation to the Nations has stirred the hearts of many inside and outside Israel, creating lots of excitement and anticipation. What Daniel and Devorah are doing is unique and “necessary” according to Eitan. Some other well-known leaders have expressed their support for the up and coming ministry:

Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, president of Jewish Voice Ministries International: “I completely support the vision of Bless Israel Network to provide a platform for the leaders of Israeli congregations and ministries to share what they are doing to build the kingdom of God in Israel.”

Dr. David Reagan, founder and director of Lion and Lamb Ministries: “I praise God for the visionary venture He has placed in the hearts of Daniel and D’vorah. It certainly is deserving of widespread support from the Christian community.” 

The Calics are in the United States through the end of August speaking and meeting with Christian churches, Messianic congregations and organizations who want to know more about this unique kingdom building venture. For more information visit . {eoa}

In an Acton University lecture titled “Religious Freedom: The Dawn of the First Amendment,” John Pinheiro sought to give a fuller understanding of the meaning of the First Amendment through its historical context. Contrary to a current widespread belief, religious freedom has not always been valued in the United States and has been almost constantly threatened, even after the ratification of the Constitution. Pinheiro described the Founders’ fight for religious liberty as both radical and counter-cultural because of the religious conflict and disdain for true religious freedom that existed throughout the history of the United States and continues today.

The historical context of the First Amendment starts with the history of the colonies and the political thought of the time period. Many of the colonists came to North America seeking freedom from religious persecution and state established churches, most notably the Puritans leaving to escape the Church of England.

At the same time, Enlightenment thinking was developing and gaining acceptance. The emergence of a belief that religion is opposed to reason and something that humanity will, and should, outgrow meant that it was less consequential which religion people practiced. Toleration of other religions, in that way grew out of a belief that none of them held the final truth, so none was above the other.

Also contributing to the development of the principle of religious freedom in the colonies was the religious pluralism that resulted partially because of England’s relative lack of involvement in the governance of the colonies. In the self-governing colonies, colonists became accustomed to a larger measure of religious toleration than enjoyed in England and much of Europe at the time.

The role of religion in England, the mother country of the colonies and source country of many of the colonists, greatly influenced the path to religious freedom. England, at the time, was a country with an established state Church. Though England tolerated other non-Catholic Christian denominations following the Glorious Revolution, political rights were contingent on a person’s faith. Thus, in the earliest colonies, religious freedom and ideas of separation between church and state authorities were seen as radical and extremely unpopular. However, increased religious pluralism, propelled by the increasing religious diversity of migrants and the Great Awakening of the 1740s, pressured states to adopt larger degrees of religious freedom.

This pluralism led to the enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was ratified in Virginia just as the Articles of Confederation began to show weaknesses. At the Constitutional Convention of 1789, the fight for religious freedom in Virginia was fresh in the minds of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. Therefore, when it came time to draft the Bill of Rights, both influenced the inclusion of religious freedom in the First Amendment.

In the time since the First Amendment was ratified, Pinheiro noted that there has not yet been a period of perfect realization of religious liberty in the United States. Among the many instances of religious conflict were the Mormon Extermination Order in 1838 in Missouri and the anti-Catholic sentiment that wove its way through the Know-Nothing party of the 1850s and into the elections of 1884, 1928 and 1960. Threats to religious liberty continue today, with politicians calling freedom of religion “freedom of worship” and enacting laws that force believers to act against their consciences. The emergence of secular humanist philosophy, which seeks to substitute religion with its own non-religious orthodoxy, further threatens religious freedom, especially as it influences Supreme Court decisions and political outcomes. In responding to these challenges, Pinheiro said that we must keep in mind the attacks of the past and the need for constant reaffirmation of the principle and practice of religious liberty.

Pinheiro concluded the lecture by asking his audience to ponder a few questions: What is religious freedom? What does a “naked” public square look like versus a “crowded” public square? And perhaps most importantly for Christians, in the free market of religion, how do we recognize and incorporate truth?

It’s not easy to plant a church. Even with a strong launch team, you still need a prime location—and that takes lots of money.

Apologia Church has come up with a disturbing way to raise funds for its church plant in Hawaii. Marcus Pittman, its leader, offered tattoos and a Bible conference complete with a beer flight, a sampling of beers much like a wine tasting, to pick up some cash.

“This is actually a fundraiser for our Apologia Kauai church plant, so people of the church are donating to have another member of the church tattoo them so they can go to Kauai and we can plant a church there,” Pittman says in a YouTube video. “So, it’s pretty cool.”

As he sees it, the tattoos and beer flights are cooler than a bake sale. It seems many of his followers agree. The ReformCon conference invites people to talk theology over beer at a bar. 

JOIN JENNIFER ON FACEBOOK FOR SPIRITUAL COMMENTARY AND ENCOURAGEMENT. CLICK HERE.

“This ticket allows you to get a beer flight from Boulders on Broadway. All the proceeds from this benefit our Kauai church plant!” the website for the event reads. “Boulders is all about the food, craft beer, bike riding, rock climbing and adventure! With 30 draft handles and 70-plus bottles of craft beer. Bring a friend and check out our selection.”

The trend of mixing beer with the Bible is not new. I previously shared with you how Rev. John Donnelly of Christ Church Quaker Farms launched a group called Beer, Bible and Brotherhood. The first meeting drew 10 men who downed beer while contemplating Bible verses, the AP reports. He’s hoping to build the group of suds-sipping seekers to 50.

Donnelly’s club may be a sign of the times. There’s a definite cultural shift in the body of Christ to open the bottles, er, the gates to alcoholic beverages. But that’s not where it ends.

I also told you how 30 to 40 people flood Zio Carlo brewpub in Fort Worth, Texas, to nosh on pizzas, kick back pints of beer and fellowship. This so-called Church-in-a-Pub also has a worship service complete with Communion.

Irreverent? Sacrilegious? Even Christians who aren’t teetotalers may have a problem with washing down their Holy Communion with beer their pastor brewed in his backyard. But it seems quite popular with the 20-somethings.

Then there’s the church that organized “Beer and Hymns Sunday” to kick off a discussion about the future of the Christian church around the world. In speaking about this stunt, Evan Taylor, outreach pastor at East Side, says, “We like to rattle the cage a little bit.”

Why is it so necessary for the church and the gospel to fit into modern-day culture? Modern-day culture should not dictate the messages we preach or the outreaches we arrange. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not obligated to meet the culture where it is—the culture is obligated to bow a knee to Jesus Christ.

Are beer-based outreaches really edifying in the end? If we compromise the purity and holiness of the Christian faith to win souls, are we really leading them into a true salvation after the bottle of beer is empty? Or are we merely compromising the gospel in the name of soul-winning without fruit that remains?

Are churches that frown on Christians drinking alcohol legalistic and majoring in the minor, or is the acceptance of alcohol a gateway to apostasy that will usher in sexual immorality and all manner of sin? Would you want to attend a church where the pastor downs a few brews with the boys in a bar over Bible study? Or does that send the wrong message?

Call me conservative, but isn’t promoting brewsky on tap for the sake of being nonreligious to attract more people to your church a prime example of being of the world rather than just in the world? (See John 15:19.) Whatever happened to separating the profane from the holy (Ezek. 22:26)? Having church or doing evangelism is one thing, but basing your church-growth strategy on beer is quite another. Have evangelism and church-growth strategies really come down to compromising with the spirit of the world? God forbid!

When we attended the 10-year anniversary celebration of Mercy Multiplied in the St. Louis, Missouri area, one of the young ladies who graduated from the program shared an eye-opening testimony.

She said that her father committed suicide when she was a teenager and the pain of that situation led her to start drinking and taking drugs. When she realized her life was falling apart, she went to Mercy Multiplied for help.

The thing that really struck me was when she shared that as she went through the program, she came to realize that her problem started at the time her father committed suicide because it made her angry that he took his life and left their family. She couldn’t get well and overcome her addiction to drugs and alcohol until she got over being angry with him.

Many times we have issues in our lives because we’re angry about something but we don’t know it. I believe that for many people, the root of their problem is due to the fact that they are angry at God because their lives haven’t turned out right, or they are angry with someone who has hurt them. They may even be angry at themselves for some reason.

The word “anger” is one letter away from “danger.” Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame,” and “Anger is never without a reason, but it seldom has a good one.”¹ It’s so important for us to be aware of any anger issues we have because they can become dangerous and create damage in our lives.

Our Anger Epidemic

We live in an angry society, and we see the effects of it in problems like road rage, which has surged over the last few years. I recently researched statistics on anger and discovered that an estimated 1 out of 5 Americans has an anger management problem.²

According to an article I read in Newsweek, people are coming out in droves asking for help with anger management. Enrollment in anger management classes is booming and the demand for counselors is at an all-time high.

The Holy Spirit is the ultimate anger management Counselor! Jesus says in John 14:26 (AMP), “But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name … He will teach you all things.” We can be confident that when we go to God, He will give us the help we need to face the truth about ourselves and overcome our problems.

What Anger Looks Like

Dallas Willard, who was a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California for 47 years and a best-selling Christian author, defines anger as “a feeling that seizes us in our body and immediately impels us toward interfering with, and possibly even harming, those who have thwarted our will and interfered with our life.”³ He also says, “Anger will evoke anger on the other side.”⁴ In other words, one person’s anger feeds another person’s anger.

We all get opportunities to be angry. You may not be the kind of person who gets road rage, but you may still get angry over what the Bible calls “trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings” that “foster strife and breed quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23 AMPC).

I wasted so many years of my life being angry about things that didn’t really matter and trying to control people I was never going to be able to control. The truth is, there is nothing better than peace! And God’s peace in our souls equals power in our lives.

If you want more power and energy in your life, you can’t be angry all the time.

Find Freedom From Anger

In order to be free from anything, we have to face truth and take responsibility for our behavior. Blaming other people or circumstances and making excuses never changes anything.

John 8:31-32 teaches us that if we abide in Christ, continually obeying His teachings, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free! I want to encourage you to go to God first when you are angry. Tell Him honestly how you feel and make a determined decision to forgive. There is no sense wasting your life being angry about something that happened years ago—or even something that happened earlier today.

Take a few moments and pray something like this: “I need Your help, Lord, to deal with my anger. I thank You that because of Your love, grace, mercy and the power of the Holy Spirit in my life, I don’t have to act on those foolish feelings that can cause problems in my life and hurt me and others.” Spend time quietly waiting on God with an open heart to hear what He has to say to you. Study what His Word says about anger and being angry. And trust Him to make some positive, healthy changes that will bring more of His peace and power into your life.

1. , accessed June 29, 2016.

2. , accessed June 30, 2016.

3. , accessed June 30, 2016.

4. accessed June 29, 2016. {eoa}

Prayer is like breathing. It becomes oxygen to our spirit.

When we pray, we feel alive and connected to God. In prayer, we can distinguish His voice and encounter the realm He lives in. Prayer takes the dryness out of our souls and releases refreshing rivers into our world. It is not just something we do for a few minutes here and there. We integrate prayer into our lifestyle and make our lives a living prayer.

I learned to pray in the fires of desperation. It was during those times when I felt my world caving in that I discovered how to reach out to God for answers. With gut-wrenching tears, I would ask Him the tough questions, tell Him all my fears and contend for answers. I rested in knowing God was not offended by my authenticity and would respond just as honestly. I learned how to listen and trust His voice in tough situations. He was working everything for my good. It was all going to be okay.

Many people do not even think about prayer until they are handed a problem they cannot solve. Find out you have a terminal disease, for example, and suddenly you have a prayer life. Get a miracle because of prayer, and now you are committed. Prayer becomes the first thing you do instead of the last. You have discovered the power of prayer, and you will never be the same.

Intercessors are most often birthed in crisis. Once you have seen the impossible made possible through prayer, something happens on the inside of you. Faith is birthed in your heart, and prayer takes on a fervency in your life. You just know that you know prayer will change what needs to be changed.

Still, we run into situations that seem not to respond to prayer. When this happens, know that God is not withholding His clear promises from you. Rather, there is something you do not understand about His Word or about the spiritual realm. God always has an answer, but we do not always know how to appropriate it. These are the gaps I hope to bridge in my book, The Intercessors Handbook, helping you connect not only to prayer but also to answered prayer.

All the principles of prayer covered in my book are rich treasures excavated through the trials and wildernesses of my life and ministry. I have taught them diligently to my church and to anyone who would listen. Now I am glad to share them with you.

The book was a project held in my heart for several years before the outset of writing it. I did not consider myself a writer and could not find the grace or the time to produce it. Then one day, I received a Facebook message from a prophet and minister living in Anderson, California. Her name was Mary Andersson, and we had known each other for only a few years. Mary receives dreams from God on occasion, and she had been given a dream for me. In her dream, I had written a book about prayer. It was a handbook, she said.

When Mary sent me the dream, I felt the tangible anointing of God come upon me. It felt like a calm liquid, filled with power, on my whole being. From there, I was able to start writing and wrote the first edition of this book, which I self-published.

The first edition was written to my church. We have a unique prayer history, which I will share with you in the chapters of this book, and I wanted something written down that newcomers could read and assimilate. I also knew the book would go farther out, such as to the other places where I minister, but not too much farther.

To my surprise, the book began selling in the United States and even internationally. It sold in Canada, South Africa, Australia, England, Latvia, New Zealand, Japan and a few more places. The content resonated with intercessors. They desperately needed validation and instruction for the things they were encountering in the place of prayer. I was overjoyed to become that bridge, someone who could help them pray with greater confidence in their unique spiritual climates.

Finally, a lovely woman approached me about writing a book for Chosen Books after reading some of my featured articles in the Elijah List. I could not resist the challenge and responded with an enthusiastic yes. We decided to rewrite and expand the handbook. I think it is much improved over the first edition, as it is written for a broader audience and includes even more content to help you process the unique work of intercession. My team of intercessors is praying over this book and all those who read it, that prayer would come alive all over the globe and be effective!

The preceding was excerpted from The Intercessors Handbook: How to Pray with Boldness, Authority and Supernatural Power, by Jennifer Eivaz (Chosen Books, © 2016).

Jennifer Eivaz is a vibrant minister and international conference speaker who carries the wisdom and fire of the Holy Spirit. She presently serves as an executive pastor with Harvest Christian Center in Turlock, California, and is focused on raising up a passionate and effective prayer community that is tempered with love and hears the voice of God accurately. Jennifer loves the presence of God and is a prophetic voice to her church and to others. Her teaching style is authentic and aimed at the heart, having been built on her personal testimony of God’s incredible goodness and miraculous display in her life and in the life of her church. Jennifer is a graduate of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is married to HCC’s Senior Pastor Ron Eivaz, and they have two wonderful children. She’s a featured writer for several online publications including the Elijah List and Charisma magazine.