God's Locker Room Series

Have you ever found your spiritual life in the doldrums where your excitement, joy, and zeal for God has waned or you have found yourself in a spiritual depression? That is a very common experience for many Christians. Despite their best intentions and desires, the day to day grind of life In this book, Steve Biddison examines how his personal study of the life and ministry of the prophet Elisha helped pull him out of a deep spiritual depression. Whether you are facing depression or you are you find yourself, figuratively speaking, on the bench spiritually and you are ready to get into the game, then this book might just be what you need to learn to experience double portion living in both your life and your ministry. From the Introduction: Jesus promised us that He came not only to save the world, but to provide a way for His followers to live a victorious, fulfilled, and abundant life. Out of our victorious and abundant life, He has called us to be a light and a witness to our world. No, let me rephrase that. I believe that He provides that fulfilled life WHEN we minister to our world. I know the times in my life that I have felt the most fulfilled spiritually and emotionally were those times that I was doing something for the kingdom of God. However, those times that I was on the bench while the spiritual game of life was being played around me correspond with the darkest, most unfulfilled times in my life. Might I also admit that those times were times of deep depression. I went through one of those deep, spiritual depressions when by all appearances others as well as God had completely forgotten about me. I honestly believed I was never going to get out of those spiritual doldrums because those normal things we are all taught to do (read our Bible, pray, go to church, etc), I was doing at a very consistent level. However, those feelings of waste, depression, uselessness, and unworthiness continued to bombard me from every side. It was not until I began to read again the stories of Elisha and his ministry that God began to show me some great truths or life lessons that I began to not only get out of my spiritual doldrums, but my heart began to experience a double portion of gratefulness to God and a double portion of my love for Him. As a result of my heart experiencing double portion blessing, I want to share with others what God showed me. If you find yourself in a rut spiritually, or suffering from spiritual depression, then this book is definitely for you. However, it is not just for those who are in a spiritual drought. This is also a great resource for everyone who is in some kind of ministry. Although the life lessons explained in this book is what God used to draw me back into the joy of the Lord, this book is not a story of how God took me out of depression into a more victorious life. It is, however, a book that follows the life and ministry of Elisha, while showing some specific life lessons that every Christian should follow on their path of living for our Lord Jesus. As you read the pages of this book, whether it is just you as an individual or you are reading it together as a small group, my prayer is that each time you read a chapter, God will surround you with His grace, fill you with His love, and capture your heart.

For several decades, Christians have been praying for God to send a revival to our nation and move in  ways that return us to those legendary years of our forefathers. Now in the second decade of the 21st century, many are calling on God to step into our daily world and send another revival. They want to see the signs, the miracles, the healings all over our nation that would usher in the next great revival. I believe this time God wants His people to be doing something to prepare the way. I believe that God wants us to be the Church that He called us to be and when we begin being that Church in our world, we will start seeing revival happening. This book is based on a project I began working on as God was bringing me out of a spiritual depression. God brought me to the great prayer Jesus prayed in John 17 and began to show me what my prayer life should look like. As He began to show me these things, I knew I had to share it with others. That is when I believe God reminded me what  the Church should be doing to usher in the next move of God. It is nothing new. It’s what Jesus talked about in the Gospels. Unfortunately, if you are one who wants the big bang to happen with a great and wonderful sign that glows from the mountain tops, announcing to the world that the next great revival in our country, you are going to be disappointed. I personally do not believe that God is going to work that way this time. Instead, I believe that God’s next move is going to be bringing us back to what He originally wanted us to be. He wants His Church to be full of praying people. This book is not simply a book about prayer  to read and put away, but it a call to action for those who want to see their prayer life transformed or revolutionized into what God wants it to be. You will get a lot out of it only if you read and put into practice the ideas presented, but I truly believe it will start revolutionizing your life (and perhaps your church) in a much larger degree, if you read it as a small group. This book can be a great small group resource for a six week study. It calls for a commitment by those in the group to change their prayer habits for at least six weeks. It’s designed with the hope that any one single church will commit to having all of their small groups work through this project at the same time. It is my belief that if each person, in each small group, of any particular church, will seriously learn to pray the way Jesus prayed in John 17, then in six weeks’ time, that church will be transformed in a way that makes all its ministries powerful. Think, if the majority of churches in a community go through the same process, what God will do in that community. Can you imagine if every church in your community begins to pray and thus become the church God wants them to be, what would happen in that community? What about your state? Do you see where I am going? It would have the potential of seeing a move of God unparalleled in our lifetime. However, it is not going to be something that changes our nation overnight. It is going to start with one person and one small group. If you look at the big picture, it will seem overwhelming. Just look at yourself first and then perhaps your small group. Do you want to be the kind of prayer warrior that makes a difference? Does your small group want to be everything they need to be as a small group? If your answer is yes, be prepared for an exciting six weeks of praying. We aren’t going to just talk about prayer. We are going to pray. If all you do is read about prayer or even discuss praying with your small group, it will mean nothing. Pray and watch for God’s answers. Are you ready? Then let’s not delay. It’s time to revolutionize your prayer life and then revolutionize your church, one praying person at a time.