Patient Father who commands all to repent, not desiring that any of us should perish, may honor and glory be Yours forever and ever.

Today I lift the final speakers in the Contending for the Faith lectures to Your throne for Your touch in their lives and Your presence in their words: John Rose, Jimmy Gribble, Lee Moses, Gary Summers, Jess Whitlock, Dub McClish and Gary Summers. May Your Spirit inspire each one who will be His host; may Your word and Yours only be spoken; may the truth be spoken in love not just by these men but also by all those who seek to speak on Your behalf.

When such events occur in the future, may all participants be faithful in contacting in advance those whose works they doubt or oppose, in the Spirit of Matthew 18:15-17 and 5:23-24, to discuss with them any possible misunderstandings within or without the text.

I pray this in the name of Jesus, the Christ, Son of God:

Amen.

Glorious Creator and God,

Praise and honor is due You for Your providence and mercy; Your steadfast lovingkindness and your unswayable justice.

Today I pray for the folks speaking and attending Contending for the Faith, those whose books they are examining, their families, and all who seek to serve You.

I pray especially for John West, Daniel Coe, Sonya West, Gene Hill, Doug Post, Wayne Blake, Michael Hatcher, and Daniel Denham.

Help us all make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

As Your Son prayed, I also pray: “My prayer is not that you take [us] out of the world but that you protect [us] from the evil one. [We] are not of the world, even as [Jesus was] not of it. Sanctify [us] by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent [Him] into the world, [He has] sent [us] into the world. … May [we] be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent [Him] and have loved [us] even as you have loved [Him].”

And I pray in His name:

Amen.

Father God,

May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing and acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and rock and Redeemer.

I lift Skip Francis, Danny Douglas, Sonya West, Bruce Stulting, Johnny Oxendine, Ken Chumbly and Paul Vaughn to Your throne this morning, and all of those whose works they critique today at Contending for the Faith; as well as their families and friends. I pray for those attending and listening; for the discernment afforded by your Spirit, guiding us into all truth; for the brotherly love in which we should be devoted to each other and show honor to each other above our individual selves.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give [us] a spirit of unity among [ourselves] as [we] follow Christ Jesus” and pray in His name:

Amen.

Holy and righteous God; loving and merciful Lord,

May this day begin and end in praise to Your glorious wisdom, providence, justice and compassion.

Father, this morning I lift up the brothers and sisters who will participate in the “Contending for the Faith” lectures, and especially for those who have accepted the burden of speaking in Your behalf.

But I also ask that You pour forth Your Holy Spirit into all who seek to speak for You today. Put Your words in their mouths, and meditations upon Your word in their hearts. May all of us who believe be so blessed as to speak only Your words and not our own; to express Your desires and not our own; to demonstrate the love that is in Your heart and not the passions of our own.

Confound our minds when we attempt anything less. Slur our speech. Stop our tongues. Defeat our selfishness.

Help us proclaim by our words and our lives Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and raised so that by the lifting up of our Savior, all men might be drawn to Him.

May Your Spirit of truth compel us to testify about Jesus … guide us into all truth … and sanctify us in the truth; Your word is truth.

I pray especially for David P. Brown, Terry Hightower, Lester Kamp and Lynn Parker – speaking at CTF today. I also pray for those whose works they critique: Todd Deaver, Al Maxey, C. Leonard Allen, Richard T. Hughes and Michael R. Weed and the family of the late Cecil Hook.

Purge from us “all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”

Grant us the discernment to test every spirit; to “recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

May all that is spoken today be spoken in Your irenic Spirit of love and concern for the souls of the saints and the unreached.

May our “conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that [we] may know how to answer everyone.”

May all be said and done to Your glory and Yours only – not ours – this day and every day.

I pray this through Your Son, Jesus Christ:

Amen.

If you are already aware of this lectureship in Texas, the title of this post may take you aback.

But I’m serious about it.

The very nature, tone, and subject matter of the lectures deeply disturbs and even angers me. (I wrote in anger about it elsewhere, but am trying to get over the anger.)

Wednesday night, as I was brooding silently while the rest of the good folks in my LIFE Group were discussing Dallas Willard’s Hearing God, I asked Him what I should do to conquer that anger.

After a while, the answer became as clear as could be: Pray for them.

Pray for each one of the lecture speakers by name, every day of the lectures, February 28 – March 3.

Pray what you would pray for your own minister, any minister, even yourself – if you were speaking on behalf of the Lord anytime and anywhere:

That God would speak powerfully through you. That you would speak only His words. That you would speak words that would build up and encourage the fellowship of believers. That you would speak words that would sustain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That you would speak words that would draw people closer to God through Jesus Christ, by lifting Him up.

That is what I intend to do.

I will pray for David P. Brown, Terry Hightower, Lester Kamp, Lynn Parker, Skip Francis, Daniel Coe, Sonya West, Bruce Stulting, Daniel Denham, Ken Chumbley, Paul Vaughn, John West, Danny Douglas, Gene Hill, Doug Post, Wayne Blake, Michael Hatcher, Johnny Oxendine, John Rose, Jimmy Gribble, Lee Moses, Gary Summers, Jess Whitlock, Dub McClish, and the elders of the host church, Kenneth D. Cohn, Buddy Roth and Jack Stephens.

And I invite you to join me.