A Secret Ingredient of the Christian

by Cassi Werner

If you’ve been in the Church or a follower of Jesus for any period of time, you understand prayer to be a vital part of your walk with Jesus! But WHY should we pray?

>> Fellowship: In its most basic form, prayer is connecting with the God of the Universe, which is a grace we tend to take far too lightly.

Sitting with or abiding with God changes us, shapes us, focuses us on God and eternity. Talking to Him wherever, whenever about whatever keeps us moving toward Him. We gain a greater understanding of Him, see more of Him, are led by Him as we spend time in prayer. Praising Him, calling out to Him and interacting with Him: there is nothing quite as amazing as prayer. If we were honest, this is something we know, but might not tend to practice. At least the without ceasing part!

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

>> Intercession: Big word for praying on behalf of others!

All throughout the Bible we see how God has involved people through prayer to accomplish things on earth. Some examples of intercession were when Moses stood in the gap for God’s grumbling people and God heard his prayer. There were prayers for healing, protection from destruction, obtaining favor, restoring the sick and so much more. As the body of Christ, we can seriously support each other by consistently praying for each other. Praying for those outside of the body of Christ maybe even more so.

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men.

I Timothy 2:1

>> Spiritual Warfare: We have an enemy prowling around seeking to destroy and devour, which should motivate us to be fervently and continually praying! We are up against unseen powers and yet we “seldom consider the nature of our opponent, and that is to his advantage.” (Elisabeth Eliot)

A few places in the Bible where prayer brought about deliverance from spiritual attack are when Jesus Himself prayed against Satan for Peter; some demons could only be cast out through prayer. Peter was released from prison because of prayer. The early church knew the power of prayer and they were always found devoting themselves to prayer. Prayer is vital in our battle against the forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving

Colossians 4:2

Prayer flexes our faith in a way that activates the power of God in unexplainable ways in our lives. Not because He needs us or there’s something special about us, but because He desires us and a relationship is a living, active, responsive thing.

What’s crazy is we are busy wandering around inside our days doing what we call living, often without so much as a nod toward the One who knows our name and created us to do all of our moving inside of Him. We get the chance to connect with THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, but often we exchange that connection for lesser things. I’m so guilty of this. You to?

Let’s become fervent and intentional and committed to prayer! Our walk with Him depends on it!

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

Jude 1:20-21

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Author & Photography | Cassi

about that following God thing

"You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." – Dallas Willard

There is a desperate need for stillness in life. One thing I have noticed is that I am a much better person when not in a rush. It is easier to follow God when you hear from him, and much easier to hear from him when you stop and listen.

Let's look at two ways to "be still" as our Father intends us to (Psalm 46:10)!

1. Spend More Time With God, More Consistently.

You may or may not have just rolled your eyes. "Duh! I already get up 30 minutes early to pray…" Or maybe you thought, "I don't have time for that right now." Let me encourage you with this thought: you don't have enough time not to spend more time with God! Theologian Martin Luther understood this very well, saying, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." We are too busy to waste time, but no time with God is wasted. Don't spend any time in the morning praying or reading the bible? Good- start tomorrow! Don't spend more than a few minutes? Good- your Heavenly Father is always looking to spend more time with you!

2. Make the Most of Your Time With God.

I have been so guilty of rushing through morning devotion: get up, read a few verses, say a prayer or two, leave. I say from experience that it is so easy to miss what God has for you this way. Perhaps you don't spend much time with God because you get bored sitting still. That's OK! If you find yourself going through the motions, change up your routine. Go for a walk, or listen to some worship music. Read a book that moves you; do whatever you need to do to get into God's presence where your strivings cease.

Recently, I have started reading "Soul Keeping" by John Ortberg; I realized that my time with Jesus is much better when I read a book that gets me to think carefully about my spiritual life. What gets you into God's presence best may be different from what gets me there. So take your time, experiment, and see what he has in store for you!

|Author >> James| ^^ |Photography >> Charley| ^^ |Graphics >> Vrsly , get the app!|

sound the horn

Over the past few summers I've put out a call for a summer prayer team!
Sound the horn — calling all prayer warriors!

A prayer warrior would simply be someone who takes prayer seriously and makes time for it. The work we do at Whisper Mountain would be pretty weak without the force of prayer battling in the unseen places. Without the power of God thrusting us, the hours and energy spent "doing camp" would be in vain. Umm, no thank you! We need a group of people we can count on to pray for us in our heaviest season of ministry.

Being on our prayer team looks like an email from me once a week throughout the summer. I won't pester you beyond that! I hate spam as much as you! In the email I share specific needs of the groups coming in, of our staff and our full-time team. These needs are never really shared anywhere else. So when you are on our prayer team you are an insider! 

To get in on this team simply email me at cassi at whispermountain dot org with the word pray in the subject line. I'll take it from there!

Yeah. I can't wait to get started!

Have a super day!

ps. if you have prayer needs, our staff would feel privileged to pray for you. Go here!

Whisper Mountain + Moving Mountains

Winter is the time for planning and preparing at Whisper Mountain.

The guys do their thing outside when the weather isn't too miserable–the building, maintenance and improvement of the property, buildings and equipment. The girls do their thing inside–the million little details necessary to effectively run the ministry.

But we all come together to pray, brainstorm, throw out ideas, pray, reject/receive ideas, pray until we feel sure of God's direction for the upcoming summer. The process at times feels grueling, frustrating, and uncertain, but in the end becomes exciting, inspiring and energizing. Once the direction is established we move forward to fill in the details of how to pull off the message effectively with the campers. 

As we finalize our Summer 2014 theme, would you be willing to pray for God's clear leading among our team and the divine inspiration on how to effectively reach the campers coming to us this summer? Your prayers go a long way to ensure eternal success for the work we do!

While I'm on the subject of prayer, as a staff we pray daily for the needs people send our way. We have opened a direct line for sending prayer requests to us. If you would like a team of people praying for you, send your requests (and praises) to pray@whispermountain.org. We would feel privileged to bend our knees on your behalf! Thanks in advance for your prayers for us!

Have an awesome day!

Trail Mix // Episode 17

Ever feel like you are running around, excited to do good things for Jesus?! Sometimes it's easy to mis-prioritize our energies! I love how Ramsey brings this to our attention in this episode of Trail Mix! Check it out (less than 2 min!).

 

[if unable to view video above, click here!]

Make the time to run to Him before running around for Him!

(don't you love the picture YouTube used for the video front? Preach it Rev. Renaldo!)

Do you like to invade?

The time has come to rally our Whisper Mountain Prayer Invaders! For the love of blowpops what's a Prayer Invader? Glad you asked! PI's are people who believe in the power of prayer and are committed to fighting the spiritual battle raging on for the souls of young people.

So, do you like to invade? Not personal space, silly! In the darkness keeping people from life in Christ? Would you like to receive weekly emails throughout summer to pray more specifically for each week's needs and groups? Do let me know to add you to the list by emailing me at cassi(at)whispermountain(dot)org.

Seriously, if you haven't discovered the power of prayer, I encourage you to start now! Your world will be rocked…in such good ways!

colorful & consuming

For a little more than a month now, I've we've been consumed with a retreat taking place this weekend! The planning, praying over, preparing, promoting, programming…what other p word is there that relates?! Any-who, we've had our heads down in it. (More so than with our other fall retreats…this one is specialized!)

While the trail leading up to this weekend has been quite colorful…

…and sometimes overcast, I am believing the mountains of prayer are leading the way to an even more colorful encounter with a personal God for each person showing up (and even those involved!)!

While skeptics and cynics would say it's just life, I would like to add that the many *curious* difficulties in recent days have me thinking there's more to this retreat than a gathering of people! More mountains of prayers from those rich in faith would be greatly welcomed! (This weary warrior is about to crumble!) 

On the side, while we're talking color…how do you like the new pop on our directional signs? I think they are pretty happy with their upgrade, don't you?! (thanks RP and helpers!)

Friends, cynics, skeptics and faith-filled…go be awesome today!

canvas of grace

Each fall we hold a teen girl's retreat at camp. In years passed, we have hired a college ministry group to come and run the program for us. While that was good for then, the time has come for us to run our own program! And I couldn't be more excited. As I've been praying through the direction and material and the help, my excitement grows! I can't wait to see how God personalizes this retreat for each person coming!

Feel free to pass the word along to any teen girls! (More info here) The more the merrier! Would you also begin praying with us that God is in every square inch of the planning, preparing and executing?!

blessings on your day!

amazing staff

Whisper Mountain summer staff 2012 was an amazing group of people, all from such different backgrounds and in different spots along the road of life, but sharing one thing in common. Sharing their love for God with others! I believe the strength of this summer came from the strength of this team! They spent much time in prayer for each group, for each other, and with campers. I would say that was their strong point. I will greatly miss them as they've gone their separate ways now. Please pray with us that they each continue on mission for Jesus! 

Full time staff is enjoying a couple day breather before getting ready for a group next week! Please pray for us to find the refreshment we need to keep on keeping on!

Blessings to you! I'll see you here toward the end of the week!

 

Week in Review // Breakaway Outreach

{above pics kindly taken by Kinsley!}

Our first week of camp was clearly covered in prayer, the gust of wind straigthening our backs and pushing us forward. (Or maybe it was just me feeling that! Lord knows I needed it this week!) Two kids from Breakaway began their journey with Jesus and several more are choosing to know Him more personally! Each child was lavished with the love of our staff and the volunteers they brought with them. 

Of course they did their share to love on us!

(Tegan and his boys!)

Because love is what we all need, isn't it?

The words I read from one of our staff gives a glimpse into the effects of serving in camp ministry: "First week of camp was amazing, already seeing God challenge and change me in so many ways! its never an easy thing to say goodbye to kids who need Gods love "

We take a quick break then get ready to greet a little more of our staff today! Thankful for you and the prayers you offer up on our behalf! May you blessed in this day!