believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24
God, we know that the promise of your word to give what we ask in prayer is directly proportional to our hearts being aligned with yours. Help us in our prayers, to be so attuned to you that your desires are our desires. Amen.
At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out,
and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.
Daniel 9:23
Holy God, on this day that commemorates love, let us not forget the love you have for us no matter what the situation we find ourselves in regarding other loving relationships. Help us to keep true in our spirits our love for you. Amen.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:8
Gracious God, we give thanks that you know us so well that you know our needs before we ask you about them. Today help us to discern the difference in our hearts between our wants and our needs. Help us to recognize all the ways you have already met those needs. God, permit that we may be more focused on the needs of others today and that we would be so attuned to your Spirit's prompting, that we would know how you would use us as vessels to meet the needs of others. Amen.
From the first day that you set your heart to understand
and humbled yourself before your God,
your words have been heard,
and I have come because of your words.
Daniel 10:12
Holy God, we give thanks that you know our hearts and have heard our words. Help us this day to maintain that right relationship with you and with others. Amen.
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing
shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call,
and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
Isaiah 58:8-9
God, may your perpetual light shine upon all of those in darkness this day and may the ill find healing in their midst. We seek you, not in ernest, but in faith. Permit that we would see your face and hear your voice this day. Amen.
You shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you
at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.
Isaiah 30:19
God this day take away our weeping that we may celebrate the fullness of your presence in our midst. Grant us strength for our struggles, faith for our doubt, and peace for the chaos of our lives. Amen.
God thank you so much for meeting us where we are at; even when it feels like we are in the depths of Sheol. But thank you more for not leaving us there; for hearing our prayers and responding not out of disgust or dispising, but rather out of love. Help us to draw closer to you that we might be lifted out of the mire that we find ourselves in and that we might come to know the real nature of your caring love for us. Amen.
Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
Psalms 66:18-20
God, today we give thanks that you are far more ready to receive our prayers than we are to offer them. Thank you for your faithfulness. In all the areas of our lives where we feel unable to pray, send us your Holy Spirit so that we might have an intersessor to give voice to our struggles and a bridge to reconnect with your mercy and grace. Amen.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your
heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
Psalm 37:4-5
Gracious God, make your joy complete within us all. Allow that our desires would be your desires and that we may experience the fullness of their fruition in relationship with you. We give thanks for your faithfulness and await with sweet anticipation your presence and actions in our prayers. Amen.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me
from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
Psalms 34:4-5
Holy God, we give thanks for all the ways you protect us and walk with us through our fears and trials. Permit today, Lord, that we may more fully reflect the radiance that you are shining into our lives. Amen.
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and
pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will
hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
God, hear our prayers. Hear our laments of straying. Hear our cries of fear. Hear our whispers of doubt. Help us in the storms we face that we may experience the fullness of our salvation in you by receiving the forgiveness and healing that your word promises. Amen.
Sorry about missing yesterday's posting of the daily prayer. It seems to me that the best prayer I could have for yesterday (and everyday, really) is this:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
God still our hearts, our minds and our spirits that we may be drawn all the more into the knowledge of you. Grant us your grace and mercy and permit us to hear you through the noise of our lives. Then give us the strength, courage and boldness to respond to that knowledge and hearing. Amen.
How dark our times of weakness can seem, oh God. We pray that your Holy Spirit intercede for us today with a depth that would draw us closer to you, help us to overcome our weaknesses, and strenghten us for the day ahead. Amen.
We experienced a lot of worship time on our trip to India. In two locations, each community had a song that they favored that was sung repeatedly and others were added as the worship leaders saw fit. These two events were conference and teaching driven and so having a song that was a common thread throughout our time together there seemed appropriate. You would think that after 3 days in each location, I would have learned all of the words to these two songs, but alas I was barely able to keep the chorus.
My absolute favorite time of worship, however, happened just more than half way through the trip. While our Global Advance leaders were meeting with ministry leaders and visiting an orphanage in Lucknow, the rest of the teaching team had the opportunity to go to a house church with a local pastor. This local pastor is using small worship gatherings to disciple people and build up the larger church. Folks first get connected in a house church and after visiting there for a period (sometimes only weeks) and having an opportunity to meet with the pastor, they are able then join the larger worship community at the church building where our meetings were being held. Regardless of what you think of the model (I happen to find it interesting myself), our time of worship at the house church was fabulous.
Here are a couple of videos from toward the beginning of the service:
I don't know why to tell you that this service was my favorite...perhaps it was just the authenticity...perhaps it was the authenticity there...perhaps it was because we got to spend so much time praying for everyone there...I really don't know; I just know it was amazing.
After worship was over, the home owners treated us to chai and snacks. Their hospitality was exquisite for a family that had so seemingly little. There may be much that slips from my memory over the coming months and years regarding this trip, but I expect that this 1st century style house church experience will be engrained for a very long time.
God, help us to remember that Christ overcame the bounds of both sin and death. While we are grateful for the promise this has for our future, let us also remember that in Him is the power to overcome what we struggle with today. We give thanks that we serve a risen Savior! Amen.
