The Prayer of a Righteous Man

(May 6, 2008 is the RTCA Global Day of Prayer. For full information on Global Day of Prayer see previous article. A series of devotions on prayers will be presented throughout 2008)

James 5:16- “Therefore confess your sins to each other

and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and

effective.”

There is so much written into this very short and simple verse. And it will be a joy to look at God’s word and see how this verse applies to us.

Question- how many of us here today really feel righteous? Let’s be honest, when we sometimes approach the Lord in prayer- do we carry guilt and shame and a feeling of unworthiness when we talk directly to God?

Let’s contrast James 5:16 with the following verse. Please turn in your bibles to:

Romans 3:10-11

As it is written- “There is none righteous, not even one, there is none who understands. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks God.”

Wow- does this not directly contradict James 5:16? No one is righteous, yet God tells us in James that- “the prayers of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Is this a spiritual….hum?

Let’s take a look at another verse.

2 Timothy 2:22

“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

So this is telling of the character of righteousness which is- Faith, charity, peace. and a pure heart.

So, in Romans, which is used many times in evangelism as the “Roman Road to Salvation” is the book that illuminates the sin of man. It shows us that man- in our natural and unforgiven state- are not righteous and are not the ways of a pure and Holy God.

James and Timothy are talking to the believers and followers of Christ.

Lets take a look at some facts here.

Prayer is mentioned in the New Testament- 100 times

Righteousness is mentioned 600 times in the bible.

In the original English language the word righteous or righteousness contained the meaning of Righteous, Justification and Justice all in the same word. The word was linked to Christian thought, that when Justice is rooted in a person and the ways of God, then God’s ways of love are esteemed and carried out on the earth.

Like 2 Timothy- there is the word Love.

In its original meaning it meant conformity to God’s standard of right and wrong. The three words were not broken out as they were now- they were one all encompassing and powerful word.

Do not confuse good behavior with righteousness. Not if the original meaning of the word is applied from God’s point of view.

So from the book of Romans- we clearly see whom the unrighteous are.

So how do we approach God in prayer as a righteous person and know as the word of God states- that the prayer is powerful and effective.

Answer- when we come humbly bowed before the Lord, and realizing that righteous is not based on good behavior or good works- that the righteous is not earned and does not make us better than anyone else. It means as believers that our filthy rags are covered by the righteousness of Christ. That righteousness only comes from Christ- that we/you/me are in Christ and Christ is our righteousness. We are forever His even in our failures and made righteous by His grace.

As Romans 6:13 says to the believers-

“do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

So now that righteousness of the believer is established- what are the values of prayer that make it powerful and effective.

Prayer has PRAISE and PRIVILEGE

Christ modeled the prayer that thousands of Christians pray daily- The Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 6:9-13

Our Father which art in heaven- hallowed be thy name

That opening statement gives praise to our Lord as God, the Creator, who resides in lofty heaven- it gives honor to the one who is holy. And at the same time it allows us the privilege to address him personally as Father- we are His sons and daughters.

Let’s look at other values and elements of prayer.

Prayer has Power- Because God answers prayer and things begin to happen and sometimes the answered prayer is no- because of things yet unseen or understood, that would be harmful or destructive. Be patient in prayer and accept the answer God provides!

Prayer has Promise- it is not to be looked upon as a lotto request. But it does go out with promise- and it is always answered. We can have joy and anticipation in looking to the promise of something happening.

Prayer has Purpose- William Wilberforce had the visions God gave him through prayer and the answers to create the purpose of abolishing slavery in Britain and in the world. He clung to those visions provided through prayer through all the adversity and trials he faced in helping to abolish slavery in the British Empire!

Prayer is Personal- Lift up your family, friends and yourself. Reveal all your inner fears, sins, weaknesses as well as your praise and thankfulness. Thank God for all He has done for you. Remember those things.

James 5:16- “Therefore confess your sins to each other

and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and

effective.”

Let’s look at James 5:16 again, through the eyes of God. From the correct application of the word righteousness and see the value of praying as a righteous man or person-

Enter the prayer in the spirit of purity of heart- confessing your sin, making right with people that you may have wronged, use prayer do be healed, to be made healthy- to be made pure and clean under the awesome righteousness of the Lord. And in the cloak of the righteousness of Christ, loose the baggage, pray for others first, confess to God, praise God, thank God, adore the greatness of the love of God. Tap into that power and know that God will answer your prayer- in one form or another- in His will and time- that is what makes the prayers of the righteous so powerful and effective!

So, go boldly to the throne of God, cloaked in the grace of His son Jesus Christ. Lift up the RTCA and the RTCA chaplains and councils. Pray for the continued evangelism and discipleship programs underway in racetracks all over the world.

Blessings to all reading this- Edward

The Global Day of Prayer & The Continuing Race for 2010!

Greetings to the family and friends of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America.

Last year on May 8th we had an incredible time of unity as we prayed together and fasted together for a 24 hour period. We came together as one body of those who serve the horse racing community and shared in times of prayer walks in the backstretches and front sides of the race tracks, in the training centers and in farms and barns across the globe. We read devotions and brought the prayer needs and requests up to our councils circulated them on emails and posted them on our web site. We signed up for prayer times on a 24 hour clock. And beginning at Midnight we began to pray together as the home office called chaplains and councils beginning in New Zealand and working around the world to Australia and Kenya and Puerto Rico and Canada, the USA, Argentina and Chile.

It was incredible, and awesome and inspiring!

This year we are declaring May 6, 2008 as our RTCA Global Day of Prayer.

It is our prayer and hope and anticipation for another Global Day of unity and fasting and reflecting and praying as a corporate body of believers. Bringing the prayer needs and requests from our family for all of us to pray over them.

Since last year we have seen tremendous growth in the RTCA ministry both in the USA and Canada and around the world.

But we see Kenya has plunged into a violent civil war and we need to lift up our Chaplain John Kaoto who lives in Nairobi.

There is strife and economic pressures everywhere and we need to pray for peace in the world.

Dr. Torres will be giving us a devotion on prayer inspired from the places in the Holy Land he just finished visiting.

We will have global devotions on prayer that will be posted on our web site throughout the year. Written by our chaplains and councils in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, England and hopefully- Kenya.

Keep praying for the continuing Race for 2010. The original RTCA Evangelism Vision 2010 plan is already out of the starting gate and hundreds came to the Lord and hundreds completed discipleship courses under the ALPHA program in 2007. Adding their numbers to the thousands that accept the Lord each year due to the work of our Chaplains and councils on the front lines of the tracks and farms.

Over 10,000 have accepted the Lord as their Savior over the last 4 years!

Pray for the upcoming Festivals and ALPHA programs that are scheduled for Feb 19 at the Sam Houston Track under Chaplain Daniel Corte, Jr. and on the 20th of Feb at the Fairgrounds Race Track in New Orleans under Chaplain Waverly Parsons.

Pray also for Pat Day and Kevin Thornton who will be bringing messages in word and song and sharing the word and their testimonies, pray for Chaplain Ted Carreras from Hollywood Park who will translate the message. Pray for the council members and volunteers who will be setting up all these events and pray for the Christian musicians who will add their songs to the festivals.

Pray that our denominational partners will join in as we grow these festivals and discipleship programs and take them to all parts of the USA and to the ends of the earth!

So, join the RTCA at our national conference in March in Seattle as we report on the ministry and come together to fellowship and pray together. Join us on May 6 as we will come together to pray in unity globally. Join us everyday and throughout 2008 as we have declared it the year of Prayer!

May you be blessed by God-

Edward Smith

Christ can calm the storm- a hurricane perspective!

Chaplain Waverly often ends his emails with the expression- "Jesus can calm the storm IF we keep him in our boat"

It inspired me to share a true story of the miracles that God did when the horror of Katrina was unfolding on the gulf coast and specifically in the 9th ward of New Orleans.

I got to know many people in the shelters of Baton Rouge shortly after they were evacuated and residents who were returning to churches a year later. We hear the sad stories of how people perished beneath the waters of the storm as they raced through broken levees to sweep houses, cars, trees and people away.

What we rarely hear is how God put his actual hand of mercy and grace upon people throughout the entire city and gulf coast. We do know that the goverment was forcasting upwards of 20-35,000 people to die as a result of the destruction- and like the attacks of 9/11- the numbers were drastically below- tens of thousands of people below! Thank you Lord!

Well, let's get back to Jesus calming the storm and being in a boat and what that has to do with New Orleans. Several survivors I talked to shared a common theme- a man appeared to them and saved them from drowning.

I have so many stories where the people ran up into their attics and began to hack away at the ceiling with a axe or machete to try and escape the water that was rapidly filling up their homes. They would tell me how they reached a point of exhaustion and realized they were not going to make it and asked the Lord to save them.

One told me how he was resigned to his immending death and cried out to the Lord to just take him home. Suddenly he felt a rush of fresh air and looked up and saw a hole in the roof that was just big enough for him to scurry up on the roof.

He was dismayed to find the water quickly overtaking his roof and realized in minutes he would be underwater. In an almost mocking tone he cried out again to the Lord- "God, did you save me from drowing in my attic only to bring me up to drown on my rooftop- you know I don't know how to swim!"

A second later a brand new boat with an engine bumped him on his ankle- he jumped in- thanking the Lord- and rescued not only himself but many other rooftop neighbors.

Another couple were washed off their roof into a torrent of water. They were drowing and called out to God for help. They were hit in the head by two life vests that they were able to slip on and then were washed up to a place of safety!

The most startling is a couple who were fleeing the onrushing waters. They ran up against a wall that was to high to climb. They held hands and prepared to meet the Lord, they prayed for rescue but felt their deaths were immenent.

Suddenly a Afro-American male in his early 30's stepped out from behind a trash bin. He was well dressed and was bone dry- despite the rain and water all around him. He pulled out a canoe and calmy said- "Hurry children you need to get into the boat!"

They ran to him and got into the boat. They turned to help him get into the boat- but he was gone. They believe Christ himself delivered them that day!

It is too bad that many times we look at our Lord as a "Break Glass when in Emergency" type of God. Coming to Him only when we are in need or want things or see no other way out. Thank God that He does respond and takes us in our hour of need.

But it would also be great if we had Him in our boat of life all the time. Keeping Him as our constant boat captain as we journeyed on the cruise of Life in good and bad times, thanking Him for all things at all times not just when were are about to be washed up on the rocks.

We are not promised a smooth or perfect life when we follow the Lord, but I believe that the storms of life can be calmed by the presence of our Lord who does allow us to handle and perservere through all calamities- even should we perish- we know we awake in His eternal arms!

So let's keep God in our boat! Continue to pray for our upcoming Race Track Revival Festivals on Oct 2 in Bay Meadows with Chaplain David and Oct 16 in Churchill Downs with Chaplain Ken. Let us pray for the harvest that many, many race track workers will come to accept the Lord as their Savior, Redeemer

Unified in a Circle of Prayer

My two weeks of serving as a Chaplain for Chaplain David Corrales has drawn to an end. Today, August 24 I have called a National RTCA Day of Prayer to pray for the RTCA Race Track Evangelism Festival that will take place on August 28 in Del Mar, California.

It is fitting that I talk about prayer in my dispatches fromNorthern California today.

I have only been here for two weeks. And only the Holy Spirit can cause people who did not know each other to bond so quickly. I loved leading worship services and small group bible studies at the different tracks while I was here.

We talked about our common citizenship in the United Kingdom of God as believers and shared and talked about verses that teach us about our citizenship and how we must strive to not only bring others the gospel and the truth, but to lift up and encourage other brothers and sisters as we journey on this earth.

I talked about the power of prayer and shared my personal testimony of answered prayer when, as a 13 year old boy, I asked God to make the world my office. Well 50 countries later and global ministry work later- God is continuing to answer that never ending prayer.

I shared the story of how God used the prayers of two men and a white pony to spread Christianity throughout southeast asia and beyond, that resonates and continues today.

And over the last few nights, at the different tracks, we would gather in a circle and just talk and pray and lift each other and our requests up to the Lord in English and in Spanish- united as citizens of Heaven.

It was a powerful and moving time and one I will never forget. They were also so excited that they knew RTCA brethern will be praying throughout Friday and that they would be able to pray with them in unity.

Please lift up the evangelism festivals and lift up these precious believers in the Lord on the racetracks as they work hard labor and strive to be the light of Christ in the backstretch. Pray also for Chaplain David Corrales, his family, is council and for his ministry,

I am so thankful that the Lord sent me to work with Chaplain David out here in the bay area.

Blessings to all of you!

The Global Cross- The Universal Liberator

On Sunday I experienced some beautiful views of God's handiwork as I traveled over the bay on the San Mateo Bridge to head up 880 North that would carry me along the bay coast line and up through Oakland into the race track at Vallejo near Napa Valley.

I marveled at the beauty of the coastal foothills and green mountains, crowned with towering trees as the refreshing air swept through my car, San Francisco looked like a postcard with sail boats sweeping along the islands or beneath the bridges and disapperaing in and out of fog that came and went throughout the day.

Somewhere to the north of Oakland I noticed an American Flag flying on a treeless, grassy brown hill. The flag was slanted and sculptured men were pushing the flag upward. I knew from my history it was a replica to the marines who fought on Iwo Jima in World War II as they raised the American Flag over a heavily contested mountain top.

My mind went back to the devotions and bible studies I had been giving over the last few days in the tracks of Northern California. I thought of a cross standing on a hill and the Lord pushing it up and then sacrificing himself in the battle to redeem mankind- and more importantly that He indeed won the war for all who accept Him.

I looked at the pacific waters that were in the bay and thought those same waters washed up on the shores of South Korea and Australia and New Zealand and Chile- where we have been helping to further the cause of Christ by planting the cross of victory on race tracks in those countries and presenting the salvation message of the ultimate Savior, Redeemer and Liberator- The Lord Jesus Christ!

Praise the Lord for all of you involved in the RTCA ministry and for helping spead the gospel throughout the USA, Canada and the world.

Dispatches from the Global Backstretch!

Chaplain David Corrales is a wonderful man of God, loving family man and a terrific- no- awesome chaplain to the race tracks of northern California.

It is truly an honor and a privilege to be able to walk in his shoes for a few days and to be able to spend time among his "flock"!

Chaplain David did what any great leader does- he quickly booted me out into the race tracks so I could just get right into it. I love it.

I want to share with you how the RTCA global message is resonating with the people I have been able to share the word of God with in backstretch church type settings, small group gatherings near trailers and in jock devotions.

As you know I love to talk about the unity we have as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. I have been able to share the fact that all over the world, immigration has reached historic porportions.

In addition to millions of immigrants living in the United States, there are additional millions of immigrants wrestling with the same issues all across Europe, South America and Asia.

On RTCA trips with Dr. Torres and Pat Day we have seen this phenomenom ourselves as Eastern Europeans are working in backstretches in Western Europe, Australia and Asia.

I told the people that so many people are living in so many new countries and adjusting to so many different cultures, languages, music, food etc- that many times they don't know what they are citizens of.

It can be depressing, exhilirating, stressful, fun, intense, lonely and even depressing. But the message I wanted to share with them was that God loved them and they were not alone and that God even addressed the issue of citizenship and unity for all that believed in Him.

It was with great excitement I shared verses such as Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 2:19, Colossians 3:11 (yes- you have to look them up) and Psalm 133:1- "How good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell in unity together!"

Praise the Lord! The passage can be applied to modern times and circumstances. The verse did not say the brethern depended on nationality, language group, skin color or gender- it calls upon those who believe in the Lord to dwell together. To encourage and lift up each other- to bear with one another as we run the race of life together.

And when we get to Heaven our passport is stamped by the blood of Christ and we enter into Heaven for the price He paid to the Father! No more nationalities, papers, documentation, i.d.s or social security numbers- our identidy is in the Lord and cannot be stolen and our citizenship is in the United Kindom of Christ!

This is the message that the RTCA and Chaplain Corrales has allowed me to take to our brothers and sisters who live in our Global Horse Communities!

Blessings-

Edward

Live from Bay Meadows- Chaplain Edward Smith!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Chaplains Office, Bay Meadows

Greetings my dear Chaplains and RTCA Family-

The rumors are true, Chaplain David Corrales lost a grip of his sanity and has arranged for me to serve as his replacement Chaplain till August 24th!

I am honored to help my dear brother as it allows him to go with his son to the Sierra Nevadas near Lake Tahoe where they will go bow hunting and spend quality bonding time as father and son.

It seems as if Satan was trying to keep me from coming out here as the flight was delayed several times and then finally cancelled. After a 5 hour time of hanging out in terminal D at DFW airport, I was finally on my way to the San Francisco Airport. I used the time to prepare for my work in Bay Meadows as well as on the upcoming Region One Conference of Chaplains in September.

On arrival in San Francisco it was another hour before my luggage arrived, as no one knew of its where abouts- or really seemed to care for that matter. But it was all good because the 104 degree heat of Texas had given way to the 70 degree weather of the bay area- it made me cry to think that poor Chaplain Corrales has to suffer for Jesus in such miserable conditions!

Seriously- the great spiritual work that Brother David is doing out here was quicky made known to me. I was met at the airport by a race track worker from Bay Meadows named Mr. Irineo Serrano- called "Neo" for short. He insisted on taking me to dinner at a little Taco stand he likes.

The food was great. But as we were talking he shared with me how much he loved to study the bible, that for the last year Brother David was teaching him how to study. He talked about how thankful he was for God and for God changing him from drugs and alcohol and h0w much Brother David was to him and many others in the track.

It makes me feel so proud of the work our chaplains do in representing the love of God to the workers in the horse racing community.

Today we went to the track at Pleasanton which holds a two week live event in the fair season in July and the rest of the year is a training track. Brother David has Chaplain Bill Fleeck conducting bible studies at the track. Brother David comes out and walks the backstretch- every0ne greeted him and he introduced me to so many people. We participated in two bible studies before heading back over to Bay Meadows- I think it heated up to 79 degrees- unbearable!

Tonight I will be giving a message to a bi-lingual service and meeting people afterwards and then off to a busy day and week starting tomorrow.

Keep the ministry work of Brother David and his trip with his son in your prayers and pray I do not totally destroy his ministry before he comes back!

Keep up the good race RTCA Chaplains and Family. I will blog again soon!

Chaplain Edward