Remembering the Power

Gentle, peaceful, grace-full, merciful…

All the things I needed in You today, I found.  Thank You Father that You meet me at my point of need, and that You don’t make me drag myself past the point of despair!

You are always enough.  Sufficient, abundant, filling me to meet my need then overflowing so that I can be a part of meeting the needs of others.

Take this Friday thing to the max, Lord.  Overflow me so that this city is ablaze and stirring with all the good things You bring.  Keep my eyes sharp, my back strong and my heart ready.  Be my words, my silence, my demeanor, my every breath.

Align my thoughts to Yours with wisdom and discernment.  Remind me now of the power I have in You so that I may be on stand-by, ready to act as the moment arises.

Just as You’ve filled me full of hope-words and head-knowledge, season it well with Your gentleness; I will need that for sure!

Just as I’ve asked, I sense that I am asking in accord with what Your Spirit wants for me.

Keep me steady, keep me focused, equip me now.  Here in the waiting I listen, I worship, I respond heartily into the full of You.  Be my cloak and marrow!  Yes!

Let Your glory rise!  Let it be so today.

Great Day to Be Alive

What a great day to be Yours.  Actually, every day is a great day to be Yours.  Who am I kidding, right?!?!  How can I not stand or sit or fall face first into Your presence and not realize what an essential pleasure it is to know You, to reason with You, to adore You, to worship You.

Lead me now as I reason afresh with You.  Stimulate my intellect and engage all my being.  I don’t want to miss a thing.

Two words that I seem to have stuck in my head as I spend this time with you are “start” and “mission”.

So many great things to do!  Yet in the overwhelming nature of things, I spend too much time at window shopping and not enough engaging that one or maybe two important things.  All those projects I’ve left scattered – today I will pick one and start!  Help me to make a difference; make me a blessing as I do this good thing.

The other prayer word I am mulling calls me to be even more missional in my approach.  I quieten myself in Your presence so I can be clearly focused on the personal mission You’ve given me, as well as the corporate mission I am engaging with those You’ve given me to serve.

Give me a more compassionate and passionate heart for this region.  Let my thoughts burn for those who need hope and care and love today.

Direct and focus my prayers, my thoughts, my dreams – all of my intellect.  Counsel me.

Empower me to lead so that many will rise up and follow after Your heart for this community.  Rise up this body of believers with new love, grace, and mission.

Send experienced workers to come along beside us.  Inspire and empower new workers.  Bring hearts home to be strengthened by a new hope in You.

Let this be the day!

Let this be the day!

Oh Father, let this be the day!

Let Your glory rise…

 

 

 

Lightning At My Fingertips

Oh, Father, for a day awash in the beauty of this hour.  This is like the dessert I want to last all day, and the stomach that wants to stay hungry for it!

What a needed balm for my soul, to borrow an old turn of words.  What a remedy for the pain that plagues creation.  Just at the moment when I seek, I find You already there and patiently waiting.  Glory to You, favorite of my soul.

Blessings to You, Father.  May Your eternal Spirit revel in Your magnificent joy.  I want to walk so close to You that I am always soaked with the overflow of Your presence.

Though officially I am facing what I call a “study day” in the office, help me to make the most of every moment to be prepared to serve You better.  If interruptions come, may I treat them as divine and inspired.  Just as You give the full of Yourself to me without holding back, help me to give the full of myself to anyone who has need.

Light my way, so that I may walk confidently.

All around me are the trigger words:  start, go, do it, be empowered…  how can I not get Your message?!?!  Fuel me up with your grace – the ultimate rocket fuel for life!  Rev my motors, squeal my wheels, I’m starting to get really excited for what You are about to do!

Break the bond of the ordinary so I may walk in Your extraordinary.  Loosen me from my safety measures – my inclination towards emptied routine and ritual – may my only safe haven be in the new of You.  Refresh me, oh Lord.

Teach me to teach.  Give me Your words, Your wisdom, Your discernment so that I may teach well.  Help me to lead like the effective, energetic leader You’ve made me to be.  Help me to encourage others.  Help me to encourage them out of their doldrums and into Your life.  Help me to encourage them to rise up as You rise, to take hold of what lies ahead, to get back up and resume running the good race.

Bolt through me so that I have lightning at my fingertips and fire on my breath.  I’m not seeking to be some sort of super hero, but rather, to walk in Your power in an everyday, every moment sort of way.  I want the full of You, Jesus!  Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain, that I can’t control…  I want more of You…

Let it rise today, let Your glory rise…

 

 

Loud Prayers in a Quiet Morning

Father, I am looking for You, searching out Your work, and that is where I will focus.  I am seeking Your way, the path you are lighting, and that is where I will walk.

You know the need of the day, and You have always been faithful to provide.  Today I will train my eyes on what You are doing and strive with all my being to be there.

There are so many voices telling believers what to think, how to speak, what to do.  And many of those voices are right on the money, so to speak.  But today I want to train my ears on You in a fresh, new way.  I want to hear from You today.  I want Your voice, whether still and small, or booming loud and neon bright, to be my source, my direction.

I pray this as well for my many friends who come here to pray with me.  Let us be challenged to seek You alone.

As I pray this, I realize a prayer like this actually leads us INTO community, and not AWAY from it.  Take us out of our cloistered monasteries and into the lives of those You’ve given us to serve.

Could I be so bold as to pray this one thing?  Here it is.  You know the intense, immense, overwhelming, flood-stage Jordan prayer of my heart in these days.  I know that You are my deliverer, my guide, my soul resource.  Would You show me the way today?  Could this be the day of the grand-opening of the Jordan so that I can cross on ground fit to walk on?  (Joshua 3 & 4)

I know Your ways are perfect and Your timing is impeccable.  I also know my heart is weak and my body is shaking.  I boldly seek this revelation from You.  I pray for new vision, new dreams, and great purpose and strength to serve.  I seek You alone, oh God hear my prayer, see my tears, meet me in these desperate moments.

I give You praise because Your Name is the top name…  it’s above all others.  It represents goodness, rightness, quality and hope.  Your Name is the label that caries no preservatives or harmful additives…  though You do preserve us and add many good things to our journey.  Your Name is peace in a clamoring world.  Your Name is perfectly designed, and easy to remember.  It comes with a rock solid reputation among those who’ve truly tasted and known.  Your Name comes with a guarantee, Your Holy Spirit.  Your Name is the song of my heart and the tune I never want to get out of my head!

Let Your glory rise, my Lord.  Let it rise over me, on me, in me, and through me.  Let it light up this community ’til every soul sees and knows it.  Let it rise today.  For Your Name’s sake, let it be so, Jesus.

Something New Arising in the Darklands

Good morning, Father!

You have grabbed my attention and I feel the shaking going on.  I awaken my heart to You, to commune and communicate.  I cast aside all the wrestling and angling and fidgeting and fussing and rest now in Your true promises.

You alone are the mercy giver we need.  You alone are the salvation and hope we can live in, that lives in us.  You alone are the good when all else fails.

All my edges are being sharpened, my senses are being heightened, You are opening my eyes to Your Kingdom at work in this changing world.  As You clear out my clutter and rearrange my priorities I find Your love on the rise in me.  Make me a blessing today!  Let it be so!  May I be a blessing and a conduit for peace and joy to everyone I encounter.

No more fear for me!  This victory is won, and I am at one with You.  No more casting about and despairing details…  I am Yours, and in You, there is life.  Thank You, my Father, for this joy that has arisen in the darklands of my mind.  Thank You that Your light is rising, and glory has taken over for the discontent that threatened to swell in me.

You are renewing my vision and giving me new dreams.  You are awakening my creativity and exciting my gift of innovation.  You are stoking new fires and new recipes and new challenges.  All things old are being swallowed up in the present, living hope and mission I have in You.

I treasure Your commands!  They never mislead me.  I wait on You diligently like a good server in a restaurant.  I watch for Your desires, I await Your glance.  How can I be of service to Your table today?

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name!  Lord, Your blood and righteousness prevail.  Your ways are right and perfect.

I want to be locked and loaded with obedience in the chamber.  I want the next explosive sound heard in this day be my giant “yes” to You, my Lord.  Let hope and grace and salvation land squarely in the hearts of the hurting and hungry.  I will be the difference maker You’ve asked me to be.  I will walk with You.  I will treasure Your presence in me.  Oh Lord, let this day shine with Your radiance!  Even in the darkest places, let these fresh mercies bring new light and life.

Let Your glory rise, my Lord.  Oh my God, let it rise, let it rise!  Oh my friend, my master, my comfort and my stronghand, let it rise in me today.

Strength. Courage.

Good morning, Father!  Let Your glory shine through me today.  I want to be a blessing in Your Name.

Soothe the jitters.  Where I am weak or apprehensive or unsure, give me courage and strength.  Go before me and clear the way so that I may walk with You and know no fear.

For Your Name’s sake, teach me to speak with confidence and authority when needed, and to listen attentively and openly all other times.

It’s not enough for my eyes to be open…  activate my brain to the stuff that lays right before me.  Give me right thinking and right attitudes and right actions towards all that comes my way.

And make me strong and courageous.

Teach me something new today.  I wait before You now, and my mind stays on “ready” for the day ahead.

Give me discernment.  Let wisdom take root in my deepest places.

Lasso these frantic and dashing thoughts and help me to be productive, cohesive and just right for everything I encounter today.

Strength.  Courage.  That’s my prayer!

Make me a blessing so that many will know You and many will follow after You and bring along others.  I will serve You.  My all, as much as I can possibly muster and then some, to You today.

Let Your glory rise.  Let it rise in me today.

The Excellent Work of a Powerful God

(I read Joshua 3 & 4 this morning and two things stood out to me like never before. One, in this second instance of God parting the water for his people to cross, they crossed on DRY ground. It says this twice. The waters walled up on one side, then so completely ran on down to the Dead Sea on the other side that the ground was wrung dry! Second, this was the day that God made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of the people. They revered him just like Moses. These things remind me of the awesomeness of God’s deliverance, and that it is radical obedience to his voice that changes the course of a leader’s work.)

Father, thank You for these old ideas that You are reminding me of afresh this morning. I will pray into them as I sense You have led me to do.

Let me start with this leadership thing. Ramp up my obedience level once again, I pray. Not that You force my obedience, but I am no stranger to the ways Your Spirit enables and enhances obedience. I want to be all in with You. ALL IN! In these days, on a personal level, I have been facing that great, overflowing river. I have been afraid of what lies ahead. That fear has coexisted with faith. Today, my Father, I will lead with even more faith knowing that Your greatest work lies ahead of me. I will be utterly confident in that.

As I trudge ahead in Joshua’s shoes, I will expect the dry ground even knowing that mud does not quickly dry! You are the provider, the deliverer. I will speak in faith, I will act in faith, I will KNOW in faith. Enough of this mealy-mouthed, so-so, scaredy-cat living. You have led me to do things that were clearly of Your power, not mine, I have witnessed Your greatness time and again, and there is NO reason why I should not set the ark in the water this morning. Consider it done.

And this dry ground thing – that really caught my attention today. I wanted to dismiss it at first and think that even in Your most spectacular miracles, we should plan on getting mud between our toes. But not so! You are the deliverer! You are complete, enough, and good. What more can I want? You not only do what it takes, You do it right. May it be so in me today as well. Inspire my every thought to not only be centered on doing what is right, but to do it with excellence.

Father, as I pray these things for me, my thoughts naturally transition to these people I serve, and to those who come here to pray with me. I pray for each of them that we will stand together on the bank of this overflowing river, set the ark in the water, and then take note as to what happens. May we gather stones and build a reminder place so that generations to come will marvel at what You did today, and know that You are the same for them as well. You are the same God that delivered Your people across a river without muddy feet!

May we also, each of us, aspire to lead with every confidence that we are brothers and sisters to Moses and Joshua, and You are up for the task of making us into the great leaders needed today. I am ready for radical obedience. I am ready. I am ready. I will go. Make us visionary leaders to see how great You are. Merciful God, how great You are.

Oh my precious Lord, how I’ve needed these reminders! I will walk firmly in them today.

And in each one of us today, Lord, LET YOUR GLORY RISE! Let it be so!

This Is THE Day…

Father, what song would You like for me to sing for You this morning? What meditation do You have for my heart? What great thing would You have me search out? For little or much, I am here and I am ready. I have everything in You, I need or want for nothing else but You.

Lead me to know what things to record here in this journal and what things are simply for me to ponder at this time.

I sense a great moving of Your Spirit, I sense the prayers of Heaven so strong they move the air here. But I also sense a great tearing away, a breaking in fact. A strong warning to be aware and be ready. My stomach churns, and I confess I’m not emotionally ready for this, so I lean into You now. You are my rock and my builder. Your word is enough so speak courage and wisdom into me.

There is much discussion about the times we are in. I know that since the dawn of our New Covenant, every age has firmly believed they were in end times. I confess I don’t know how to interpret the “signs”, but I do know You and I know You are enough. I know that we are all in our own little personal end times… some will have few years, some many. But I doubt that anyone standing today will stand 100 years from now on this earth. So Father, let hope arise. Let faith stir vision and let vision create action. We have been given the Good News, how can we hold it back? Let grace and mercy and love rule. There are too many precious ones around us starving for hope and freedom. Let Your justice roll like a mighty flood, let righteousness spring forth like an endless river.

I am so compelled by Your Spirit to proclaim this to any who come share this prayer with me today… this is no ordinary day for sitting back. I want You to arise and minister mercy and love and healing and hope. Stir us up now, we pray! Our hearts are thrilled at the assignment! We know that Heaven’s prayers are with us and that we go under the authority of The Lord of Heaven’s Armies. We move not trampling flesh, but overtaking the accuser. The blood has already been shed for us on Your cross… we bring life, and for that matter, abundant life.

Oh my God, what a commission! What a command! We rejoice at its sound in our ears. Move us today, let us proclaim and apply Your righteousness and mercy like a salve to a wound. Let us not destroy and separate, but build and mend. Let us not cast aside the sinner, but draw them in full embrace just as You embraced us. Your love does the work – it never fails, never gives up, never runs out. Let us now be afraid to speak gently, to love extraordinarily, to demonstrate Your love and mercy through acts of kindness.

Lord I long to see these victories won. I long, with You, I pine with Your Spirit, to see hope and life arise out of death and ashes. To see the power of depression and anxiety and hopelessness and despair and turmoil replaced with Your peace, Your comfort, Your love. Oh, Mighty One, move us now I pray!

This is Your day, a day You have made. We will get it right – we will have joy multiplied many times over. We will let gladness paint the sky. Let Your glory rise, my King! Let it rise in me today!

Big Things

Father, let Your grace come alive afresh in me today. Fill me with kindness and tenderhearted mercy.

My heart rises with eager anticipation! Your glory is all around and I can hardly take it in. Form me that I may participate in your work and be a valuable tool on your workbench – refine me.

Yesterday morning was such a profound encounter, but I long for more. My spirit tells me that I have yet to see even a portion of what You can do in me. I have yet to tap into the things You’re willing and able to do through me. Yet I struggle to know how to make myself more available to You. I wait for You, Holy Spirit!

I guess that my mind is so full of longing for You because of our leadership team meeting where so many good things are being put into place to make us more able to meet the heartcry of our community. It’s all trivial and ritual and format without You… we seek You first! Let us not be afraid of big things, of doing things with excellence. Let there be no fear except of not taking hold of what You empower us to do. Raise us up with a new energy level and a heightened expectation of who we can be in You. Let laziness and apathy and slothfulness and carelessness and atrophy and unwillingness all be banned! Give us a bigger vision… give us a sense of how Your resurrection power moves us and transforms us.

Yes! I do not want my mind to be conformed to the death of this world, but transformed by Your Spirit living in me. Don’t let us settle, don’t let us hold back. My heart is ready, let our people be ready. Help our leaders to lead – fill them with enthusiasm and confidence inYou – and stir our community to good action.

Keep us properly focused as we embark on new challenges. Keep us centered in You. Make our families strong. OH GOD, I CRY OUT FOR THE PROTECTION AND BUILDING OF OUR FAMILIES! The enemy will attack the very core and foundation of who we are. Let husbands and wives be faithful and dedicated to each other just as they were on their wedding day. Let those who need to be married here the call today and allow You to bless them and cleanse them like You want to do with all Your gathering people. Give fathers and mothers new wisdom and discernment and grace and mercy. Help fathers not to exasperate their children. Make our families strong in love and in submission to each other. Inspire even the youngest children to honor and obey their parents. Make our children a beacon light that leads us to better things. On and on I could pray… hear me and bless our families. Shine on them, Father… make them strong and healthy and cohesive.

These are days of such good things. You are God of Moses, and You are our God today. Strong and courageous… make us that. Just as You helped Joshua to know that he was not trying to live up to Moses, he was living in You, help us to do the same. Let Your glory rise. Let it rise in me today. To Your glory, my Lord, let it be so.

Sliding Head First

This prayer – my yes – let it shake the day awake!

Let there be no bounds but overflow me, overwhelm me, overtake me. Holy Spirit, there are too many hollow places in me still. Fill me now, fire me up.

I slide headlong into this prayer, with reckless abandon I simply throw myself into Your love, into Your fresh mercies, into the full of You today, my Lord. Receive me, I pray, instruct me, counsel me, make me a reliable source of Your love and grace.

While some would smear Your Name and sneer Your reputation, make me a dependable vessel for Your truth, Your light, Your mercy, Your life-giving reign. Purify me, refine me, make me like silver rather than wood. Take me to the unordinary and the extraordinary and make me to shine with Your reflection.

Thank You that lately there has been no pause in me to pray with those in need, to offer Your hand of healing, to touch any moment with the Spirit-breath within me. Help me to keep it up. Make us all stronger in that. Empower my people to minister Your love and compassion authentically and genuinely from moment to moment. Rise us up to live in Your reputation that we may serve even in the lowest of places. Will You stir us that way? Will our people receive and grow and reflect? Let it overwhelm us I pray until Your mercy becomes our sole aspiration, Your Good News becomes our only voice. Let it weave into the fabric of even the most ordinary and mundane moment. Bring new fire to the lives of Your people.

Let new leaders arise. Impress upon our hearts the reality of You, alive in us, awakening our community to hope. Let the harsh words of religiosity and modern day constructs of “good churchmanship” give way to real, dynamic waves of justice and mighty rivers of righteous living. Let our community not see condemnation in us, but life and hope and grace and love. Change us from the mentality of “them vs. us” til we see it all as simply Jesus calling, Jesus calling, Jesus calling.

Oh, how profoundly and deeply and genuinely I want more of You, Jesus! I long for it! Fill me now, I must have it and I won’t leave this place til I’m sloshing over with it! Cleanse me, fortify me, straiten my equipment for the good work You’ve given me. I surrender more. I will keep surrendering more until I get it all under Your authority.

Once again I pray and sing, “Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.”

I pray it and sing it for our people, “Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on these I serve.”

And again, I beg and plead for my community, “Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on every heart that life may overtake this community.”

And for the one who comes here to pray with me now, “Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on my friend.”

Willingness! Openness! Desire! Expectation! I am overwhelmed in You, indeed! Fill me up, let Your glory rise! Yes to You, yes to You, my King. Yes to You, Savior of the world. Yes to You, Lord over all.