Like A Gladiator

"And in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent." ~Exodus 31:6-7

Father, You have given Your children skills with which to build Your Church. Skills must be honed to be perfected and used properly. You have given me the picture of a gladiator where our skills are concerned. They wore armor, they practiced daily, they built muscle, they walked in confidence and they fought to the death. This is how to build the Church. We must take the time needed to become the gladiators and then walk into battle with the confidence and determination to win, even at the cost of our own physical death.

True Freedom In Christ Jesus

—Misplaced anger is the fear we won’t get what we want. Lord, there is a LOT of misplaced anger in the world today. You tell us in Ephesians 4:26-27 (AMP): "Be angry (at sin – at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior) yet do not sin; do not let your anger (cause you shame, nor allow it to) last until the sun goes down. And do not give the devil an opportunity (to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness)."

The angry violence taking place in protest of racism has actually increased it. We have seemingly learned nothing from history. Lord, we stand in agreement against the enemy in this. This appears to us to be a huge battle and the temptation is to put our heads in the sand and hope it will quickly go away. But You have called us to join in battle through prayer! So here we are trusting You to take us to the other side of this storm safely!

Pour Out Your Spirit

"I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment about matters of the faith." ~1 Corinthians 1:10

"If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." ~Mark 3:25

—Father God, we are Your house! The Church buildings are not. Satan is raging against the Church by destroying the buildings where we meet, burning them to the ground. I find it interesting that he is using fire. He knows where he and his dominions are headed for all eternity and so is enraged, trying to give us a taste of it perhaps, the Lake of Fire.

We Sing Your Praise

You hear me when I call.

You are my morning song.

Though darkness fills the night.

It cannot hide the Light.

Whom shall I fear?

You crush the enemy,

Underneath my feet.

The Hill People

—This morning I woke to, "Run to the hills! You are the hill people." And this became my prayer. 

"Now it will come to pass in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be firmly established as the highest of mountains, and will be exalted above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, the house (temple) of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.'" ~Isaiah 2:1-3

"But it shall come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest and chief of the mountains; it shall be above the hills, and people shall flow (like a river) to it. And many nations shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up...'" Micah 4:1-2

Great Loss, Hope For Healing

—Where to begin, Lord? Where to begin?

There are so many hurting people in the world, but today I feel the focus of this prayer should be for women who have had, are contemplating having or are being pushed, coerced or even forced into having an abortion. 

Lord God, I know what I went through when I miscarried our fourth child. My heart was broken. I thought there should have been something I could have done to prevent it from happening. I doubted myself and I thought there must be something wrong with me. For over a year, tears would appear unbidden when passing through infant aisles in stores. I remember that terrified feeling that I had forgotten one of my children when preparing to leave to go somewhere. At times I wondered if I was all there! Now I know I was grieving.

United, We Stand

"Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" ~Psalm 94:16

"Rise up, O Church of God! 

Have done with lesser things; 

Give heart and mind and soul and strength

To serve the King of kings!

The Veil Removed

This is a different kind of prayer. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ~2 Corinthians 3:15.

—Lord God, we were all once deceived and living blinded lives. You reached out Your hand and removed the veil covering our eyes so we could see Your Truth and decide for ourselves who we would follow into eternity. Many have chosen to follow You, but many, many more are fumbling about in the darkness, tripping over life and injuring themselves and others in the process. They are trying to get somewhere, though they really don't know where. They reach one so-called destination only to discover they are still unfulfilled, so they reach out their hands in the darkness for the next accomplishment, always doomed to that feeling of being incomplete, because fulfillment and completion come only in You.

Cities Of Refuge

"Therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall set aside three cities of refuge for yourself.'" ~Deuteronomy 19:7

—Lord God, You laid this passage about cities of refuge for those being chased by avengers of blood on my heart yesterday and I said, "What? How am I supposed to pray about that? If I am really hearing from You and not my flesh, then bring it to my mind in the morning again and show me how and what to pray, because I am at a loss."

So this morning I woke to, "Deuteronomy 19:7"! But You did not stop there. YOU EXPLAINED!

Turning Tides - Spiritual Growth

"For whoever calls on the name of the Lord (in prayer) will be saved. But how will people call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher (messenger)? And how will they preach unless they are commissioned and sent for that purpose? Just as it is written and forever remains written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!' (Isaiah 52:7). But they did not all pay attention to the good news (of salvation); for Isaiah 53:1 says, 'Lord, who has believed our report?' So faith comes from hearing (what is told) and what is heard comes by the (preaching of the) message concerning Christ." ~Romans 10:13-17

A Revelation Of Love

"So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands and smashed them before your very eyes! Then, as before, I fell down before the Lord for another forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water, because of all the sin you had committed by doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and absolute fury which the Lord had against you, enough divine fury to destroy you, but the Lord listened to me that time also." ~Deuteronomy 9:17-19

—A beautiful picture of what You were about to do in Jesus can be found here, Lord. Grant us eyes to see, ears to hear and minds that understand it. The disobedience of Your people brought about Your Word being broken and destroyed, but if we keep reading we find in chapter 10 that You resurrected Your Word. Jesus, the Word made flesh, was broken and died because of our disobedience, but He was made whole and brought back to life!

Forgive Us, As We Forgive Others

"For if you forgive others their trespasses (their reckless and willful sins), Your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others (nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God), then Your Father will not forgive your trespasses." ~Matthew 6:14-15 AMP

—Lord God, this is a hard teaching, especially in a world that is trying hard to destroy all that is right and good - You!! We see the hypocrisy of saying lives matter and turning around to murder unborn children, innocent bystanders, those trying to protect others and more, but we close our eyes to our personal hypocrisies such as telling our children not to lie, then making up excuses as to why we can or cannot do for others, which teaches our children not to lie UNLESS it benefits self.

Awaken Your Church

"The foolishness of man undermines his way, ruining whatever he undertakes; then his heart is resentful and rages against the Lord for, being a fool, he blames the Lord instead of himself." ~Proverbs 19:3

—Lord, time is drawing short, that is clear. We must be ready! We have been foolish long enough! Wake us, Lord, into Your Infinite Wisdom. Make Your children evident to this world! Help them see in us a God who cannot be conquered or contained, because You, Sir, ARE Almighty, Most Holy, Omnipotent, All Seeing, All Knowing, All Consuming God!

We will either be consumed by Your Love or we will be consumed by Your wrath as we cling to sin! It is sin You will destroy, but we will be destroyed with it if we choose to cling to it rather than let it go and fling it far from us!

The Journey Ahead

—Lord, I do not know where you're taking me in today's prayer journey. I only know you have laid a passage of scripture on my heart and I am to begin there. 

Deuteronomy 10:11- 17 says: "Then the Lord said to me, 'arise, go on your journey ahead of the people, so that they may go in and take possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.'"

"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear and worship the Lord your God with awe-filled reverence and profound respect, to walk that is to live each and every day, in all his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (your choices, your thoughts, your whole being) and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?"

A Prayer For The President

—Here I am, Lord. Speak to my heart the words You would have me pray for our President.

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all people; for kings and all who are in positions of high authority, SO THAT WE MAY LIVE A PEACEFUL AND QUIET LIFE IN ALL GODLINESS AND DIGNITY. II Timothy 2:2 AMP

Lord, we come before You today in humbleness of spirit. If there is anything in us, in me, that reeks the least bit in pride of flesh, remove it and forgive us, forgive me, that we might truly come in all humility.

You have called us to be a people who remember; remember the consequences of negative behavior and the positives of following Jesus. Help us at this moment to remember how loving and gracious You were and are to us in forgiving us of our personal mistakes so that we begin to understand the enormity of our own sinful past and forgive the past mistakes of others, even those of our President, senators, representatives and Supreme Court judges.

We Are Guilty - You Are Sufficient

"These 6 things the Lord hates; indeed 7 are repulsive to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that creates wicked plans, feet that run swiftly to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies (even half-truths) and one who spreads discord among brothers." ~Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP

—Lord God, what can I say but we are guilty! I must speak and pray the Truth, or my prayers are nothing but hot air that puffs up pride. WE ARE GUILTY! 

I cannot thank You enough for Jesus' sacrificial death upon the cross that we might receive forgiveness, and His resurrection that we might receive eternal life. If I were to die today, this would be enough. YOU ARE SUFFICIENT for my every need, for OUR every need if we will but turn with all our hearts to You and seek forgiveness and restoration.