What do God's people and God's Enemies have in common?

Tonight our men's small group is hosting a movie called "The List"

SYNOPSIS

Georgetown, South Carolina, 1863

With news of the defeat at Gettysburg ringing in their ears, a group of wealthy Confederate landowners meet on a stormy night to form a secret blood covenant to protect their families' fortunes. One man refuses to sign, uttering a dark prophecy against the dangers of greed and black magic. Ignoring the warning, the men pool their gold in a desperate attempt to smuggle their treasures to Europe.

140 years later, Renny Jacobson, a young Charlotte lawyer, is shaken by news of his father's mysterious death. Although they were never close, the young man is stunned to discover that his father has left his substantial estate to charity, leaving his son with nothing but a reference to an obscure entity called "the Covenant List of South Carolina, Ltd."

Mystified, Renny sets out on a quest to learn the truth about "The List." Along the way, he meets the lovely Jo Johnston, another descendant of a family bound to the secret society. Renny soon discovers that they are both inheritors of an ancient and sinister secret - as well as a vast fortune.

As he delves into his own shadowy past, Renny learns the hard way that tragedy follows those who bind themselves to The List. Having signed the covenant with his own blood, he is unprepared to fight the evil forces that now seek to devour everything - and anyone - Renny holds dear. As his world crumbles, he is joined in the spiritual battle by some unlikely and courageous heroes.

In an unexpected and thrilling climax, Renny finds that he must fulfill the prophecy spoken in 1863 and destroy the power of The List - or risk losing the true treasure that has changed his life.

One of the lines in this movie that really spoke to me was one Daisy said, "God's children and His enemies make the same mistake: They both underestimate the power of prayer."

I think that sometimes Christians fail to pray ( which is talking to God ) because they base their faith in prayer on human reasoning. For example: "I cannot go before God because I am a sinner." or "God won't answer my prayer because I don't deserve it to be answered."

There is some truth in each of these two statements to keep us from kneeling and seeking God's help in our lives. We are sinners and we don't deserve His blessings!! BUT, God is like a parent and He wants us to come before Him and submit to Him so that He can provide all good things for us. We will never be good enough or right enough to deserve His blessings but we can have them because of His goodness and His righteousness that He grants to us through our faith in Jesus.

What a wonderful truth, "We are not good enough or righteous enough but God wants to talk with Him so that He can grant us His Goodness and Righteousness so that He can answer our prayers.

If you had all of the money in the world and knew you could do whatever you wanted you would not hesitate to move forward with your dream. Why not do the same with your prayer life. God is waiting for you to go before Him and submit every part of your life to Him through prayer.

Tonight I am going to challenge the guys to over the next 30 days to lay everything no matter how small or large before God through prayer, thank Him for His answer and then as they rise off of their knees to walk the day as if He answered it already. I place that same challenge before you and invite you to get back with me within the next 30 days with the results.

I will write a post about how God answered my prayers on March 7, 2009 and I hope that you will have some comments to add to that post about your results.

Father, we thank You for what You are going to do over the next 30 days in the lives of those who take the challenge and every day share with You through thankful prayers their desires and needs. In the name, power and authority of Jesus Christ amen