Prayer

 Lord Jesus, You are the the Dayspring from on high, You have visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace You are Lord of all, please shine Your light into every fiber of my being and bring healing to the lonely broken places within me.

Lord God Almighty,

We lift up the enemies of the Jewish people to You, You know them all by name, You sent Your Son to redeem them and save them. We ask You Holy Spirit to minister to them, to break the hardness of their hearts and pierce their very souls with Your Word which is sharper than a double edged sword. Jesus, please make Yourself known to them, fill them with Your love for themselves and all people.

We also lift up Christians who are prejudiced against Jewish people, please show them how destructive this is to their walk with You, we cannot truly love You if we hate or dislike entire groups of people.

Ezekiel 36:26 : I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. We pray those filled with hatred and or dislike for the Jewish people desire a new heart because their hearts have been transformed by the love of Christ Jesus.

In Jesus' holy, life giving Name we pray. Amen

Advent 2021

 As we draw to the close of 2021 on the secular calendar, we are in week 2 of the new year on the church calendar. As preparation for Christmas and holiday gatherings continue, we must not overlook the contemplative time Advent is supposed to be. We need to sit quietly with the Lord and reflect, we need to listen, spend time in His Word and in prayer. 

Are we where we need to be, are we headed in the correct direction, or are we sidetracked or worse did we make an U turn and are now headed in the wrong direction? 

Life is a series of seasons from bounty to famine and everything in between, we must not only grow during a season of bounty, we must learn to flourish during times of famine as well. We need to be sure what we are planting in our hearts and minds is good seed and the soil is watered and not allowed to go fallow.   

 Ponder these words of Jesus and flourish:

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

our Shepherd

 Good Morning Lord Jesus, John 10 tells us You call Your own sheep by name and we know Your voice. We want to hear You and recognize Your voice at all times. You give us eternal life and we will never perish or be snatched out of Your hand.

We want to be in Your word not to know more about You but to know You more, in this world we throw the word love around - I love my dress, I love enchiladas, but we want to know You more so we fall more in love - real love - with You each day.

There is no point in this life if we are not fellowshipping with You, serving You, spending time with You.

We are created in Your image, help up be more like You in every way as we press in and continue the race You have set before us. Revive us when we need it, remind us You are waiting at the finish line, speak to us in the quiet, speak to us in the clamor, help us always hear You, the Good Shepherd.

For Your glory we pray. Amen

Prodigals

 Luke 15 gives us the Parables of the Lost, we read about the lost sheep, the coin, and the son.  It becomes clear God has a heart for the lost and so should we. 

1 time a relative told me her son wasn't a believer and said if he goes to hell it's his fault. He was 20, so he was and adult and was responsible for his own choices. 

I was quite sad over 2 things - the young man's lack of Salvation and his mother's attitude which was shallow and seriously nonchalant.  

I've prayed for him for years. He excelled in college, excels in work, and has a beautiful family. What he does not have is the greatest, most costly Gift ever given in the history of creation - Salvation. I continue to pray for him.

From Luke 15:

 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.  Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.  And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.  And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’  And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.  And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  But the father said to his servants,‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,  but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’  And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Lord God,

I ask You to ignite holy fire in us so that we fervently pray for the lost sheep, the Prodigals out there. Our desire is for them to come to themselves and realize like us, they have sinned against You, Lord God.

We ask You to open their spiritual ears and eyes to Your holy truth, not the truth as the world sees it. We pray loving evangelists cross their paths and share the Gospel with them. We pray for our family members: ____________________________________________________ our friends:  ______________________________________________          elected officials:  ________________________________________________        

Misc: ____________________________________________________

We pray the lost we named above who are spiritually dead become alive in Christ and who were lost are found in Jesus' holy Name. Amen

A New Heart

 Most Holy Lord,

You have clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of [Your] righteousness. Your Word tells us to put on love and wear the armor Your provide.

But in my Christian walk at times I ignore wearing love and putting on my armor, I walk around in sinful rags, my prayers are stained with sin and self. I have been guilty of pride, unbelief, neglecting to seek You first, not caring about Your will for my life.

At times I have been slow to repent and confess, slow to learn, and quick to forget.

Holy Spirit, I ask You to show me any vain imaginations flowing through my thoughts, self-righteousness I am am wearing, and pride I am so accustomed to I no longer see. I don't want any part of them.

Please give me a new heart and put a new spirit in me; please remove from me my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh.

In Jesus' holy Name I pray. Amen

Mercy & Forgiveness

 Lord Jesus, our Redeemer, 

Before your Cross, I kneel and see my sin, my iniquity that caused  You to be made a curse and die for me. 

You were arrested, beaten, and mocked. A crown on thorn was placed on Your head and bets were made for Your clothes. 

Your body was broken and Your blood was shed, You paid the price in Your infinite  compassion for me, Your love endured my curse, Your mercy bore my stripes. 

I kneel before You, a sinner saved from God's wrath by Your grace. Absolved of my guilt. I am forgiven of all my sin. Past, present, future. Redeemed by Your blood - the blood of God's Lamb. 

I am forgiven! Hallelujiah! How then could I ever withold my forgiveness from other people? Lord, I forgive:

___________________________________________________

In expression of my worship of You, I forgive others as I have been forgiven. 

Jesus, I pray in You holy Name. Amen

Division

 Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would see such division in the Body of Christ over masks and vaccines. I don't care if you're anti mask, pro mask, anti vaccine, pro vaccine, that is not my point. My point is the anger, division, the my way or the highway attitude seen throughout the church. 

Do legalistic Facebook posts win people over to our side or more importantly to Christ? People post about the love of Christ 1 minute, the next they cast stones calling people idiots. Disagreeing with someone's viewpoint is very different than calling them names. 

How do we navigate the waters in this long season keeping our hearts filled with love and our eyes on Christ? Perhaps spending more time in prayer than posting on social media is the answer. Perhaps spending more time in the Word than calling out people and telling them they are going to hell. Perhaps fasting from social media. Step away from the screen, take a break, go outdoors...

 We should examine our own hearts over examining other people's spiritual condition. 

If we are aggravated by anything and everything, we need to take a look in the mirror.

 Psalm 4:4 tells us: 

Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent

Ephesians 4:26-27

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,  and give no opportunity to the devil.

Proverbs 4:22-24

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. 
Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.

I realize this is easier said than done, but let us be about loving the Lord and loving others, reflecting His love and leave the job of judging to Him who is qualified. 

Prayer Aug 27, 2021

 Creator of the Universe. Ruler of All. Lord of the Nations.

Are You not the Judge of all the earth? My heart is broken over what happened in Afghamistan yesterday.

Lord God, help us remain in prayer for our Afghani brothers and sisters in Christ, our military,  and the conversion of hearts among the terror factions there.

Holy Spirit covict us if we murmur and complain and begin to cast stones at politicians. We know from Scripture You do not like grumbling or gossip. Please give us the unction to pray for those in office to do what is right in Your sight. Transform the hearts in DC of those who are far from You. Open their eyes to Your Word, Your ways, Your solutions.

We ask You to protect Christians who are in hostile Muslim countries,  if they want to leave, please work out the details for them. 

Please urge us to fervently pray those serving false gods with loving hearts. Please help us focus on their eternal home not the violence here and now.

In Jesus' Name we pray.

Amen