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THE MASTER'S PRAYER NETWORK

The MPN is a resource of Bible studies and other inspirational material intended to encourage regular and consistent study of the Word of God with the result to be a response in personal prayer and praise. The Bible studies are primarily structured on the comparison of scripture with scripture. The most important factor for meaningful prayer and praise to God, is to first receive his gift of being saved to eternal life by grace through faith. Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." The word of God leads each individual to the point of salvation, then Christian service and God's blessing will flow from the principals of scripture for the remainder of the believer's life. Psalms 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." Psalms 37:4 "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalms 62:8 "Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah." Psalm 119:11 "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

The heart is the key to a true change in our course before the Lord. Luke 6:45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Timothy 3 "15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." And as we study the Word, we must be open to the teaching of the Holy Spirit, not relying on our intellect alone. 1 Corinthians 2 "12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So, as we study scripture and make the Lord and His ways our delight, it will be consistent with His nature to give us the purified desires of our heart. Then we are less likely to have the fruit of God's word choked out by the cares of this world, and we can present our requests in prayer. Philippians 4 "6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." The Internet is now the outworking of the "network" concept for the MPN, but the beginnings of this labor of love for the Lord, are detailed below.

SEEKING MORE IN-DEPTH PRAYER

I became a Christian in my late twenties by accepting Christ Jesus as my personal Savior, and one of my early observations of the church in the USA, was that women seemed much more consistent and interactive, than did men, with their faith as lay people within the body of Christ. I began to grow in a local assembly of believers, as I also studied the Bible myself through the use of records and cassette tapes beginning in 1975. I have been legally blind since 1973, and I am not a good reader of Braille. By 1983, with the help of my wife, through her suggestions of some verses and proof reading of the final product, we sent our second gospel tract to a local print shop. The tract contained my personal testimony of salvation in Christ.

In the early 1990's speech access and Bible software provided a means of reading the Bible more selectively, with the added functions of text searches, Hebrew and Greek lexicons, etcetera. As I became more active in the local church, I tried personal phone contacts prior to Wednesday night prayer meetings in 1994, to encourage more men to attend. This proved to be more than I could sustain week-by-week, and the initially larger group of men on Wednesdays dwindled back to the average. In 1998, as part of the Wednesday prayer meeting, we divided into small groups of 2 to 3, with men and women in purposely separate groups. After prayer, the leader (John Linville) in my small group suggested that the three of us should continue in prayer for one another the remainder of the week, and that each of us should make at least one contact of encouragement to one of the other two. That idea planted the seed that lead me to begin the use of yet another tool, which was Email distribution. The MPN started as the "Men's Prayer Network" in July 1998, with network existing only in the sense of a distribution group and any other men that the recipients might pray for regularly. I was preparing the communications on my DOS based computer, using Flipper speech access software. My wife Carolyn was making The Email transmissions for me, from her new Windows98 computer. In November, my 1991 vintage computer suffered fatal failure, and after several weeks, we purchased a new system with Windows 98 for me.

PROGRESSION TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB

It took me about six months to recover from the loss of files (some of which had no backup to floppy disk), and to adjust to the Windows environment with JAWS speech access, which I also had been using at work since about mid year 1998. Near the end of July1999, I was finally armed with a new free download version of the Online bible for Windows which included eight Bible versions and many notes and study resources, and I had become more comfortable with using Email at work and at home. So I embarked once again on the MPN mailings. My study and prayers had not ceased (perhaps decreased in frequency), but sharing the study with others enriches that endeavor. The mailing list gradually grew from the original six men of my personal acquaintance, as I resumed producing studies on an approximate monthly basis. The Bible study became more detailed, with a prayer composed out of each study. I drew upon pre-worship and mid-week Bible study materials that I had prepared from the early 1990's, and from newly prepared material, to present a variety of topics. Over the next few years the Email list grew to about one hundred addresses. In addition, a number of wives read the MPN's, and some other women were added to the readership. Thus, the MPN became the "Master's Prayer Network". The web site will allow expanded access through the World Wide Web, provide an archive for past studies, and provide other resources for those who would read the Word of God, and pray in response to His message.

Michael D. Justice, ggtg

Foundations of Faith

The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, providing the only infallible guide for true faith and wisdom.
God is one, with all his attributes in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth as recorded in the literal terms in Genesis.
Death came to mankind Through Adam , and life is available by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God.
Christ Jesus was born of a virgin, died for the sins of man, rose victorious over death, and will come again as he promised.
There will be a new heavens and earth inherited by those who are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Site Overview and Layout

When I started to develop this web site, my first goal was to post Bible studies that I had written over several years. I am a Christian, and I have been part of a fundamental local church since 1976. As a blind person, I have used various means to access the Holy bible directly, with my first King James Bible on 33 rpm records as supplied by the American bible Society. Using a Talking Book record playing machine, I listened to the 72 hours of recording as read by Alexander Scourby in rich narration, over probably more than a year. My next media was cassette tape with the NIV Bible read by various readers for different books in the Bible. The complete Bible was on 48 C-90 cassettes, and this allowed the use of a portable listening device, and more flexibility in reviewing material, as well as resuming just where the last reading had stopped. When I obtained the Bible on cassette, I read through the entire Bible in four months, using the variable speed Talking Book cassette machine for an accelerated listening pace. Cassette material from the Bible and from Bible studies were used as my main source of independent study until about the beginning of the 1990's. When I first started using the Online Bible software on a computer with speech access, I was very pleased that it included a Bible dictionary, Hebrew & Greek lexicons, and several commentaries in a very accessible format. Computer software and Internet resources are now a mainstay of my continued Bible study, with expanded resources for more thorough Bible exposition and Bible exegesis. Preparing material for this web site prompts me to more detailed study on my own, and then to more consistent reflection and prayer to the Lord about that which he has revealed through His Word. Our prayers can be effective if we are careful to observe the order prescribed by verse four from Psalm 37, "Delight yourself also in the LORD: and he shall give you the desires of your heart."

Further discovery of the marvelous attributes of the True and Living God are now my greatest joy. As Paul said, "that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection." From Genesis to Revelation, God is immutable in his being, and the Bible is the only source of the early history of man beginning with his creation by the Lord God. All primary causes of man's activity and motivation can be found in the pages of scripture. But the most important revelation we can gain from the Bible, is to know personally, God the Father, his only begotten Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who is ever active in the affairs of men. Our creator is the Great I Am, Jehovah, the Self-existing One, Lord of lords, king of kings, Emmanuel, the Great Shepherd, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, Redeemer, Almighty God, Prince of Peace, and so much more! To know Christ in your heart is to have life eternal, because he came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. Let all creatures praise his Holy name!

There are four major groups for the Bible studies on this web site: characters, topics, psalms, and New Testament letters. The characters in the history recorded by scripture were real people who can provide many practical lessons to us as they lived in situations such as are common to man. They include important women, patriarchs such as Abraham and David, disciples of God, and chosen apostles. The topics provide an examination of principals of living, with parallels and supporting references from both the Old and the New Testaments. The psalms are rich works of literature, penned by men who were guided by the Holy Spirit, but who also dealt with a variety of human emotions, some history, and some prophecy. The New Testament letters have much information for the conduct of our Christian daily living, and additional information about the age to come that will fulfill the promises of our Savior. Some other Bible Study materials are now being developed on the site. Chronological tables with Bible references for each event or key individual are useful for better understanding various inter-relationships. Short tract or track topics are intended primarily to present the gospel message.

Because of my desire to tell others what the Lord has done for me personally, I have sections of the site devoted to my experiences and adaptations as I progressed from having poor eyesight, to being legally blind, and finally to having just light perception. This area of the site related to blindness will have articles about my career over thirty-nine years of employment, family life, and service organization involvement. The Lord has used all events in my life, just as he uses the events in each persons life, for purposes that we may never understand while in our mortal bodies. He is faithful to complete that which he starts, and his mercy and love endure forever! - Mike Justice.

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