I Wholeheartedly Seek and Pray Today...

Let us pray together:

Precious Abba Father -- The One Who gave me earthly life and Who is my Eternal Life... Oh how I adore You.

You are my hope, my peace, my everything, all the time and forever. Your love and kindness are unmatched.

Today, I ask that Your favor would be realized in my life in new and powerful ways for Your glory, for my good, and for the good of others You have entrusted to cross my path in life.

I do pray especially for my dearest loved ones. I take comfort knowing You care for me and for them. Let my life be a real reflection of Your Holiness and compassion to them.

Today, and in the days beyond, please Lord, as my inheritance give me lost souls to present before Your Throne of Mercy. You alone are so very worthy!

I know I am so very weak on my own power, nevertheless, Your great strength is surely available for my life. 

In my life, Lord, be glorified. And by the Precious Blood of Your Son, Jesus, my Savior, my Sanctifier, my Sustainer, be satisfied when you see my soul.

I long to see You face-to-face Someday. Until then, please continue to make Your Holy Spirit's Presence within me to be constantly unfathomable and undeniable.

In Your Holy Name I believe and receive Your righteous response to my prayers because I pray in the Name of Jesus, The One in Whom You are well pleased. Amen.

"...and i wait." Psalm 5:3 (GWT)

Grateful 

Please Pray for My Childhood Friend

Please join me today and in the days ahead in prayer for my childhood friend, Ken. He got a health report that is disheartening. The medical team is not giving him much hope but this does not intimidate The Great Physician, Jesus.

I met Ken when I was 5. Many people throughout our school years thought we were brothers. We both liked that. Still do.

Also remember his dear wife, Melinda. I am praying for a miracle and for peace for them both. Please join me.

Grateful

A Prayer: What's On My Heart In A Few Words...

Please pray with me today:

Precious Father God...
I am so glad I can call on Your Name and know that You hear.
I know You hear because You care.
I know You care because You Love.
I know You Love because You are Holy.

I have no worthy vocabulary to voice my praise to You appropriately.
Your Faithfulness is beyond human comprehension and expression.

Still Lord, here's the best way for me to say what's on my heart in a few words:
"I love You so much because You first Loved me TOO MUCH!
You alone are my LIFE, my HOPE, my EVERYTHING!"

In Jesus' Name! Amen!

Grateful

Earnestly Seek God (Pray)

These verses have been speaking to me strongly:

 

Those who know your name trust you, O Lord, because you have never deserted those who seek your help. (Psalm 9:10 GWT)

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT)

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)

Lord, find me always seeking You earnestly.

Grateful

My Prayer for Midnight or Midday

In midnight or midday,
We need You, Dear Lord.
To surely watch o'er us,
But, so very much more.

Our lives without You,
Are empty at best.
We run here and there,
Without breath, without rest.

So, come to us, Jesus,
We call on Your Name.
Don't leave us as orphans,
On You, we must lean.

Unless You're beside us,
We'll fade towards death.
How we need You inside us,
Please reign in our depths.

We pray for clear vision,
Lest we would become blind.
We long for Forever,
Yet, we're stuck here in time.

When you surely come for us,
Find faith in our souls.
We long for Your Presence,
While Eternity rolls.

Grateful

We Mourn With Oklahoma

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
(Words of Jesus in Mathew 5)

Today, we mourn with the precious people of Oklahoma in the aftermath of the tornadoes experienced there yesterday. The death toll continues to rise as morning approaches in Oklahoma City. A local school was hit directly and as many as 25 are either dead or missing in that location alone.

Let's pray:

Lord, we call on You for mercy and grace for Oklahoma City.
There is no where else to turn.
You are God alone.

Lord, please comfort the weary and heal the brokenhearted.
They have no one else to help.
You are Life Itself.

In Jesus' name. Amen.
Grateful

Praying Versus Talking

My executive assistant, Angela, is a person of prayer. Outside her office door she has posted a simple but profound note:

Have you prayed about it as much as you have talked about it?

What a sobering statement. Will we be found mainly praying or mostly chattering about the people and the circumstances in our lives?

Let us Pray.

Grateful

Light Will Shine On Your Ways

Yesterday, because of the 17 inches of snow that blanketed our community, my wife and I had to cancel our appointment with our dear friend in the Lord and our tax accountant, Bill. Though we could not meet we shared e-mails with one another.

Brother Bill sent me this passage of Scripture as a blessing. I pray it will bless you as well.

Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways. When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’then He will save the downcast.
-- Job 22:26-29 (NIV)

Let it be so, Dear God.
Grateful

Spiritual Unity

If we pray only for ourselves, we will not find it easy to be in right attitude (relationship) with God. Spiritual unity will help us to live unselfishly, wholly for God and others.
-- Andrew Murray

Lord, keep us earnest in prayer, as we show deep love for each other.
Grateful

A God Who Saves

Recently, I went in our grown daughter's old bedroom in our family home to pray for her. (She's a young adult now and living in her own place.) I picked up one of her Bibles that she left behind on the nightstand. Opening it, her Daddy was encouraged as I began to pray verses she had previously high-lighted. This verse from the Psalms especially lifted my soul to a higher plane:

Our God is a God who saves...
-- Psalm 68:20a (NIV)

Click here: Our God Saves Paul Baloche Worship Video - YouTube

Jesus Saves!
Grateful

India Needs Rain

This urgent prayer request came to me through e-mail from my pastor friend in the Calcutta, India region of God's world.

Pastor Ajay said, Please join us in praying for this need:

In India there is too much heat. Seventy-eight people have died in the last two days because of a heat wave in my state, West Bengal. If the same situation continues more than 70% of our inland water is going to be dried-up. Lord save us. Please hear our voices.

Please keep our country and state in your prayers. Pray that God will send the rain immediately.

Desperate for God's mercy and...
... Grateful

Do We Pray In Our Praying?

My dear Mom, Melba, has taught me so much about prayer, but nothing more valuable than to give God time when You approach Him in prayer. It is her practice to stay, yes to remain, to abide in the secret prayer chamber until the Lord makes His presence known.

Never leave the place of prayer without a conscious season of communion with the Lord.
-- Samuel Chadwick

Three words in James 5:17 speak strongly to my soul: Elijah prayed earnestly... Samuel Chadwick defined these three words like this: Elijah prayed in his praying.

Lord, when I approach You in prayer, I want to pray earnestly. Yes, I want to pray in my praying. And Lord, please help my desire to be never to leave the place of prayer without a conscious season of communion with You. I want to give You time to reveal Your sweet presence to me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

It's a rude thing to rush The Eternal God.
-- Henry Blackaby

Lord, Teach Me To Pray (Luke 11:1)
Grateful

Let's Pray With Our Eyes On God!

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.
-- Oswald Chambers

(1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, (2) fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
-- Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

Pray, "Our Father!"

Jesus said: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name...'" -- Matthew 6:9 (KJV)

If we pray as a child to his/her Father, we should remember two comforting truths:
(1) As children it is our right to ask help of our Father, and...
(2) As a Father it is His responsibility to hear and answer His children.

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

All I Really Want in Life!

The Psalmist gives perfect words to my own life's prayer:

Then I pray to You, O Lord.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life."
-- Psalm 142:5 (NLT)

Click: - Draw Me Close to You - Michael W. Smith

Holiness Unto the LORD!
Grateful

Be Faithful to Pray for One Another

A special friend e-mailed me a copy of a prayer he was asking of God on my behalf. I am humbled to know that those who follow my blog are also faithful to pray for me. Here's the prayer:

Father God this morning I ask for protection for Pastor Kerry. Thank You that no weapons formed against Pastor Kerry will prosper. As he dwells in the shadow of the Most High, deliver him from terror, darts of doubt, and diseases. Set Your angels around Pastor Kerry, and let no power of the enemy harm him. Turn aside rumors, gossip, criticism, abuse, and ungratefulness. May inordinate expectations, stress, and fatigue be cast into the sea, and may every need and vision of his be fulfilled. Amen. (Read also Psalm 91.)

Thanks "K" for the prayer. Someone is praying for "me". Humbled.

Click: Someone Is Praying For You - Sam Ocampo, piano

Let's All be Faithful to Pray for One Another as the Lord Reminds Us.

Click - Pastor Nizar Touma- The Global Day of Prayer - Nazareth

God, I Need You!
Grateful

Pray for a Vision of the Harvest

Really, is there a sadder verse in the whole written Word of Holy God than Jeremiah 8:20?

“The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone,” the people cry, “yet we are not saved!” -- Jeremiah 8:20 (NLT)

This Old Testament verse speaks to "opportunity lost", yes in two words the weeping prophet is crying out: "TOO LATE!"

And then, in Matthew 9:35-38, we find this description of what Jesus was up to while on planet earth and we also hear Him in these verses calling on us to ask, yes, to pray to the Lord of the harvest for more harvesters, yes workers and witnesses to partner with the Lord, to bring lost souls into safety before it's too late:

(35) Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness. (36) When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. (38) So pray to the Lord Who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”

Lord of the harvest, place Your fire in me. More than praying for the harvest, give me a vision for the harvest, yes, I want to see the world You bled and died for through the eyes of Your compassionate heart. I want to be Your Holy-Spirit-filled witness! Amen.

Click here: - Shout to the North - Delirious

Count it all joy.
Grateful

Facedown on the Ground

Moses and Aaron... they fell facedown on the ground, THEN the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to them.
-- Numbers 20:6 (NLT)

If My people... will humble themselves and pray...
-- 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)

Click here: YouTube - We Fall Down by Chris Tomlin (lyrics)

Holiness Unto the LORD!
Grateful

Start & Finish

Indeed, it is a New Year.

Thanks be to God for January and the fresh start of a New Year, however, it will be of little lasting value if we do not pray to Him and trust Him for a strong finish in December and beyond.

I have fought a good fight.
I have finished my course.
I have kept the faith.
-- 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV)

Still praying and believing the God of Philippians 1:6. Amen.
Grateful

Lord of the Harvest

(37) Jesus said to His disciples, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. (38) So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send out more workers for His fields."
-- Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)

The Imperials Singing "Lord of the Harvest":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WN7ezuRYpA

"Lord of the Harvest" lyrics:

See the fields, ripe and white as snow
Up from the seeds of faith we planted long ago
So many the hearts in season
With every prayer they've grown
You have made them ready
but we must bring them home

Chorus:
Lord of the harvest place your fire in me
Servants you need now, a servant I will be
Give me the eyes of Your Spirit,
Your heart of compassion to know
Lord of the harvest, show me where to go

Time like a free wind, so quickly slips away
Too soon today's tomorrow, too soon they're yesterday
So little time for the reaping and the laborers are few
Lift your head to the fields of white
There's work that we must do

Refrain:
Wherever you may lead me
Lord of the Harvest I'll Go

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful