Prayer

The annual National Media Prayer Breakfast was held recently, bringing together people of differing faiths to pray for media leaders. If you were there, who or what in the media — be it news, entertainment, etc. — would you pray for, and why?   I was blessed to have attended a previous National Media Prayer Breakfast (I wasn’t able to this year), and my church and I actively support Mastermedia International’s ministry to bring the good news about Jesus Christ to people working in the media industry.

Patience. A word that may strike a chord in many folks. Sometimes the lack of it can be related to children, spouses, parents, friends or life situations in general. One of Webster?s Dictionary definitions is ?Bearing or enduring pain, trouble, etc. without complaining or losing self-control.? Another is, ?Refusing to be provoked or angered, as by an insult.? I have written on this topic before but felt it worth delving into deeper. In busy Southern California, patience may be something we appreciate when we witness it and are grateful for when we can exhibit it. I find the need for patience when someone is rude, there is stress at home, or I am waiting upon God to show me why I am walking through a particular crisis.

Have you ever experienced the divine protection of God? Most of us as Christians would acknowledge that we have, at one time or another. Can you look back on a specific moment where you were in physical danger and you prayed and God intervened? Maybe it wasn't a miracle, but you knew God had answered prayer and protected you. I recall one such event. It was before I was married. I was driving home from the beach with a girlfriend from church. We had spent the evening at Manhattan Beach having dinner.

RANCHO DISTRICT — As an undergraduate student in the early 1960s, Dr. Keith Phillips went once a week to a then little-known 1-squaremile of Los Angeles called Watts. He ventured there to bring the message of Jesus and the Gospels to inner-city children. Beginning with six boys, his ministry grew to more than 100 students, who were so eager to enlist that he had sought assistance from a local college for student volunteers to accommodate all the interest. Today Phillips is the president of World Impact Inc. — a missions organization that reaches out to the country's urban poor — and he brought his message to the 32nd annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, where more than 100 people filled a banquet room at Pickwick Gardens.

S ecretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter reportedly issued instructions to Navy chaplains earlier this year that religious portions of events such as graduations or command changes should be "nonsectarian in nature" and that chaplains must "be willing to function in a pluralistic environment." The instructions have prompted a debate about whether a chaplain's ability to express his or her faith is justified in a secular setting and whether phrases such as "praying in Jesus' name" during an invocation could offend the ranks.

What would we do without hope in our lives? I have often thought about people in crisis and reflected on my own times of trial and wondered: How do people make it without Christ, prayer and hope? For me, it has been my greatest moments of suffering that have caused me to reach out to Christ to help me through. We recently found out that a co-worker suffered from a tragic ailment. God laid this man heavily upon my heart to pray for. I prayed with my husband, my daughters, and was then inundated with questions from my 3-year-old asking, "What is wrong with Thomas?

What's on your Christmas/holiday wish this year? This past year has given us much to think about. On a personal level, we all experienced our individual triumphs and sorrows. History, however, will record this year as one where people across the world tried to recover from one massive disaster after another, such as the Asian tsunami that struck in the final days of last year, hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the earthquakes that struck in Iran and Pakistan. The magnitude of these events and the loss of life, not to mention damage to property, are simply unbelievable.

Mark R. Madler As the owner of a custom classic car, Johnny Steur knows that any help to get the vehicle running is welcome -- even from the Divine. "When something happens you don't say, 'Oh, Satan, oh, Satan,' you say, 'Oh God, oh God,'" said the Burbank resident as he stood beside his 1948, two-door Buick fastback at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area during the 12th annual "Blessing of the Cars" car show. Steur was at the show with fellow members of The Creeps car club, just one of many clubs that attended the event.

Mark R. Madler John Fischer grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home that didn't allow him to engage in the fun activities his friends enjoyed, like listening to rock music. Then one night, as a teenager, with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" playing on the radio in the family car, the future songwriter and author realized that listening to rock music couldn't be bad if it made him feel free and happy -- the same emotions created when he felt the presence of God. "God and I boogied to the Beatles," Fischer described for the nearly 200 people gathered Thursday morning at the 30th annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast at Pickwick Gardens, fitting the story in with his overall message that God can touch a person's life at unexpected times.