JR: Welcome to the blog, Mark. How did you come to Christ, and how did God lead you to starting Common Thread Ministries?
MM: I accepted Christ when I was 7 years old. My parents were lay-folks who helped expand a fledgling church just outside of San Francisco, and the need for a savior captured me. I am still, an unashamed San Francisco Giants fan, which might say more about myself than I want to. But, that’s life.
Common Thread Ministries came into being as a result of a lunch I had with a colleague when I was in the A & D community (I worked with Architects and Interior Designers as their lighting rep). He and I wanted to start a Bible study with men and women from the different disciplines in our industry. As we were walking back across the street (J-Walking, as I recall), I asked him, “Michael, what is the Common Thread between all of us who will join this Bible study?” Thus, the ministry title was cast.
Interestingly enough, the prayer side of the ministry came about a few years later. I DID NOT get involved with prayer because I was a “Holy-Guy.” I took over the prayer position in our Sunday School class because I was tired of the inefficiency in the way it was handled. I remember thinking “I’m gonna bring my business acumen into this and FIX IT!” Little did I know, God had another idea up His sleeve.
A few years later, in 2006, Dr. Charles Stanley started the Sons of Thunder, a men’s prayer ministry, and, no, he didn’t name it that because of James & John. He was asked in an interview around Mid-2006 why he named it Sons of Thunder, and he said something I have never forgotten, and I have found to be true everywhere I go. He said, “When men pray, it sounds like thunder going up to heaven.” So, Dr. Stanley started Sons of Thunder and after a few weeks I was the lay leader of it, and remained so for the next 4 ½ years when I went out on my own to lead my own prayer ministry.
JR: I was impressed by all the items on your web-page, such as the pastor's page, Washington Encouragement, and Pray All Year. Could you tell us about those ministries, and any other on your heart.
MM: The mission of Common Thread Ministries is to “Rebuild the Foundations of Prayer.” And my efforts of everything I do, is to that end.
In DC, I pray with BOTH sides of the aisle, because I’m not there to fix the way anyone thinks, I’m simply there to bear their burdens. I pray with Congressmen/women, Senators, staffers, visitors and janitors. I pray in the privacy of their offices and in the middle of the street where dozens of people are walking by us.
Pastors are people with usually NO ONE to pray with them, so I do about 60 prayer conference calls per week, mainly with pastors, allowing me to pour into their lives. I would add that my prayer calls ALL BEGIN with praise. I believe it is the most ignored aspect of prayer. See https://markmirza.com/most-ignored-prayer/ -- My prayer focus is “engaging” people in doing prayer with them. I’m not interested in putting out “The 12 Most Important Prayers…” and etc. I want to see men and women DOING prayer and making commitments to do prayer, well, forever.
Most of my prayer calls have been going on for 5-6 years, every week. It’s actually my way of discipling men and women. In fact my new business card says, not only “Author” but it also says “Pray-er Discipleship” meaning, I disciple pray-ers. I disciple men and women who want to pray.
JR: A lot of my interviews are with novelists, and while I didn't expect it to, this one will fall into that category. Would you like to tell us about Divided Nation?
MM: I have found that writing novels has become a great way for me teach on prayer. In fact, for a little longer, as a result of Covid-19, ALL MY NOVELS are free at https://MarkMirza.com/FREE-Digital -- The novel you are referencing, Divided Nation was my 2nd political novel. However, in ALL my novels, you have no idea who the Democrat or the Republican is, because that’s not the focus.
This novel takes place 5 years after Covid-19, when Christians accidentally spread the next pandemic. The book is a sobering look at what persecution could look like for Christians in the USA (real persecution). I explore how Paul handled persecution, both dishing it out, and taking it. Believe me, my take is not the typical Left Behind view. One of the chapters is a modernization of My great grandmother’s martyrdom, at the hands of non-Christians.
My first political novel is Divided Together and it is a challenging view of how we, in the church deal with our friends who vote differently than we do. The idea is that our unity is in Christ, not the ballot box. This story came from a Congressman who sat with me and told me about a friend of his, in his church, who, after church came up to him and started yelling at him for his politics. It bothered me, and that novel was the result.
JR: One thing that impressed me was hearing you speak at a Speechless Prayer Conference in Georgia, probably over a decade ago now. You mentioned that you don't pray for healing of those who are sick unless the Spirit directs you. Could you mention your rationale for that?
MM: And I still don’t, Jeff. Not because I do not believe in miraculous healing, I have prayed for healing and watched them get healed. My rational comes from a simple reading of scripture. Before, I go further, I pray with men and women all the time who pray for miraculous healing, because of their read on scripture, and I never challenge them, I simply pray for the same issue, if the Lord leads me to, the way I think scripture says, and then, if that pray-er wants to talk to me afterwards about it, I’ll dialogue with them. But again, just like when I am in DC, I am not here to “fix” the way anyone thinks (Hint: I couldn’t even if I wanted to).
Perhaps, it’s better to start on the other side of the argument to explain my position. To pray for healing, most people use Isaiah 53:5 & 1 Peter 2:24: both passages say, “By His stripes you were healed.” As I talk with people, I get it, that was the way they were taught, by their pastor, their mama, by someone they trust. And personally, I’m not going to tell them they are wrong. However, it seems to me, the reasons those two passages were chosen to relate to physical healing was because of a 4 letter word, in English, “WERE.” You see, if you read the verses before and after the two passages it is clearly talking about spiritual healing, not physical healing. Most people have never read the passages though, they have just taken for granted what they were taught.
Let me tell you what I think happened, the same people who push those verse on television (and before that in large crusades) would combine the “By His stripes you were healed,” passage with the James 5 passage to tell their congregants, “That if YOU HAVE ENOUGH faith, you will be healed when I pray for you.” There is a problem with that though, when you look at James 5:15-16, the passage is clear, the one who is to have the faith IS NOT THE ONE BEING PRAYED FOR, BUT THE ONE DOING THE PRAYING. Look, there are a lot of people who pray this way because its what they were taught, They ARE NOT doing it out of malice. But, I suspect a lot of people combine these verses because if the person isn’t healed, it ain’t the fault of the pray-er.
Again, I am all about miraculous physical healing. I’ll never forget the woman who had pain in her feet, I prayed for healing and 6 months later, she still had no pain, Praise the Lord. So, unless I get a sense from the Lord, I do not pray for healing. But if I get a sense from the Lord, I pray with the power of Psalm 5:3, I lay the request before the Lord and watch expectantly for my prayer to be answered the way I prayed it, the way He laid it on my heart, according to the desire of my heart (ref: Psalm 37:4).
JR: We are definitely living in interesting times, with COVID, the Ukraine invasion, the breaking news items that inspired your novel, and the like. How should a Christian be prepared for the tribulation and persecution I believe are coming?
MM: First, we need to accept that it is coming. If for no other reason that because Jesus told us in a number of places, “You will face persecution.” I fear the reason so many people are pre-trib, is because they do not want to go thru persecution. Personally, I don’t take a stand, Pre-trib, Mid-trib, Post-trib. The late Dr. Walter Martin used to say, “Pre-trib, Mid-trib, Post-trib, it’s all a bunch of tribulation anyway, men and women are dying and going to hell and we’re arguing about nothing!”
Let’s go back to Jesus’ words, He told us how bad things would be when He returns. He said they would be as bad as it was in Noah’s day (Matthew 24:37). Do we actually think, life will be “hunky-dory” Jesus will return and THEN things will get bad? If that’s true, then He owes an apology to Iran, North Korea, China, and much of Africa where Christians are being violently persecuted.
You asked how we can be prepared, as with most Christian principles, they are much too simple for most people. I think the way we can be ready is to start living as if, THIS IS NOT OUR HOME! Recognizing that we are merely sojourners on earth would satisfy a lot of issues in Christendom.
JR: Thank you for your time. How do we find your web-site I mentioned? Any other news with Common Thread Ministries you'd like to share?
MM: Please feel free to sign up for my emails. Jeff, you and your wife can attest to the fact that I am VERY CAREFUL about how many emails I send out. People can sign up at: https://MarkMirza.com/email
Thanks for the opportunity to participate in this interview.
