An Unconventional Redemption

He e-mailed me and introduced himself about a year ago. He said he was working on a Facebook application called Praybook, and wondered if I would partner with him in writing devotional content for the application. I guess he did a search on the Internet related to writers and prayer – and came up with me.

Well, actually, I believe that God, in His graciousness toward me, led Tim to my website. Although I did not fully understand what Tim was describing to me, I sensed I was to say yes to the opportunity. It sounded like it might be designed by God to help redeem Facebook for His Kingdom purposes. How could I resist being part of something with that kind of vision? After praying and pondering just a bit, I decided I was in!

Now, a year later, Praybook has been launched. I love the tagline: “Lifting up the world…one friend at a time.” Another way of putting it: Friends praying for friends. Praybook organizes your Facebook friend list into a manageable prayer list each day, with the encouragement to bring each of your friends before the throne of God on a regular, systematic basis. By the simple press of a button, you can send a notification that you’ve prayed for them.

What a great idea! I'm glad God and Tim thought of it - and included me in the project.

Honestly, this has breathed new life into my prayer times. I get up in the morning (way earlier than I used to), get my list of friends for the day from Praybook, and go on a “prayer walk” around my community. (Getting up early and also wanting to walk….truly, God is in this!) With the Spirit’s guidance, I find myself praying for friends who had never before entered into my prayer life (yes, an embarrassing confession).

Think about it. Seven hundred million people on Facebook. Friends of friends of friends of friends, praying for each other. Could this be the launch of a worldwide prayer movement?

I suspect it is. I praise God for His unconventional redemption of Facebook.

Praybook: www.praybook.com/page/login

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.