Gotta Love Finney!

What a great name for my grand-nephew! Finney Charles. Of course, my first thought upon hearing his name was, "How wonderful that my nephew Brent and Kathryn named their child after one of the greatest revivalists ever in our nation!" I was certain they did that to warm my heart.

I had to scale back my enthusiasm a bit when I learned they weren't really familiar with Charles Finney. They selected Charles to honor a grandfather - and they just plain liked the sound of Finney. Any connection to the famous Charles Finney was slim, and most certainly an after-thought.

Nevertheless, I will enjoy Finney's name every time I say or write it. I will think of the heritage of Charles Finney as the man during the 1800s known as "The Father of Modern Revivalism." After all, he led our nation in a call for holiness and revival in the Second Great Awakening. And I owe him great gratitude for his innovation in allowing women to pray in public!

I will pray and think of Finney Charles as a new generation of hope for another great move of God in our nation. I will smile and think to myself, How kind of God to lead someone in my family to inadvertently name his child according to my heart-cry for revival!

I think there is a connection.

(Pictured: Joshua Stanley and Finney Charles Madison)

Even Spiderman and Elvis

I was in Hollywood last week for a series of meetings with national prayer leaders. We meet in a different warm city each January. (That was decided a few years ago when we met in Chicago; there was an uprising. "Never again," declared these godly prayer leaders.)

Wherever we meet, we include strategic prayer for that city, hoping in some way to leave a spiritual deposit of God's blessings. I've prayed through Dallas. Miami. Even Las Vegas.

But how does one pray for Hollywood? I had to confess my unbelief that God might do a work of transformation in Hollywood. Of course He can do anything, but I confessed wondering if He would. Perhaps Hollywood is too far gone. The perversion and corruption of that culture make it seem hopeless. Yet, we all believe in the power of prayer. I mean, for goodness' sake -- we've all devoted our lives to that belief and mission!

So I repented of my unbelief. And then I prayer walked throughout Hollywood. I spent time at Disney and Universal Studios. I walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard, amazed at the contrast of the "walk of stars" vs. the adult entertainment establishments lining the streets. Some of us were dispersed to other studios. Still others prayed over the city from the vantage point of the Hollywood sign on the hillside.

As I prayed, God instilled a new hope within me. We all felt it. We all sensed that God's heart is to do a mighty, reviving, transforming work in that city. You just watch. I don't know when, but you just watch and wait and pray -- expectantly.

And if you don't believe God has a heart for Hollywood, just look again at the photo I took of Nancy Wilson of Campus Crusade, sharing Christ and praying with Spiderman and Elvis. Nancy can't help but speak of Jesus to everyone she meets. I want to be like her.

So I pray for the faith to keep believing that God has His loving eye on Hollywood. It is always His heart to redeem and restore when we turn back to Him.

Always In Need

I recently ventured to Branson, MO, with my parents. Yes, Branson. And I actually enjoyed being entertained by Andy Williams, still alive at age 83!

We also attended the "Miracle of Christmas," an incredible production on the birth of Christ (at Sight & Sound Theatres). At the end of the show, they made prayer available for anyone in the audience. I watched as three "prayer counselors" stood alone in the front of the theater, while perhaps 1,000 people streamed out the other direction. To be honest, I wondered about their disappointment, as so often I watch people leave my own church service without taking advantage of the offer of prayer.

So even though I was on the upper level, I told my parents that I was not going to miss this opportunity. I fought the crowd and made my way down to the front to pray with Jessica. She was a wonderful blessing, and I was assured that many more people would be praying for me throughout the week. I was the only one in the theater who went forward for prayer!

Now, I have no doubt that the needs in that auditorium were enormous. There was not a single person in the room who did not have some kind of burden on his or her heart. Yet, how often the last thing we do is bring that burden before the Lord. I mean, good grief -- we had just watched the most amazing display of God's glory and love through the miraculous birth of Jesus!

What a disconnect; yet I am often guilty of that disconnect myself.

If only we understood the tremendous grace, power, and mercy available to us when we call out to God in prayer. We would truly learn, as Paul did, to pray without ceasing.

May I never pass up an opportunity to have someone else bring me before our Lord in prayer. May I always connect prayer with the power of the Almighty God – and be the recipient of His great grace.