Sunday Praise and a Prayer as We Stand Upon the Rock

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. You, Lord, are our Rock, and on you we stand. We declare that as we stand upon You, the Rock of our salvation, we will not be shaken; we will not be moved. You are our Mighty Fortress, our Protector, and we will not fear. 

You are our Strength, our Courage, our sure Hope. No matter what storms rage around us, you are our Peace, and our Light in the darkness. 

You are our Sustenance, our Fountain of living water. 

As we stand upon you and walk in faith, may our lives be a reflection of your great love and grace, and may all we go through magnify and glorify the holy and precious name of Jesus Christ. 

In His name we pray, amen.

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If you would like prayer, please feel free to contact me. 

For His glory, 

Effective Prayer Life

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much.” 
James 5:16b

If there’s anything we need right now, it’s active and powerful prayer by God’s people that produces results.

But a lot can get in the way of that, and that can be confusing and discouraging. 

There’s an easy-to-read booklet, though, that addresses many of the concerns we all have. It’s called Effective Prayer Life, written by Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel. 

It’s simple and to the point, and very encouraging. 

The chapters start with the basics: What is Prayer?, and continues with The Purpose of Prayer, The Privilege of Prayer, Effective Prayer, Strength in Prayer, Pray, and I will Answer, and Sin of Prayerlessness. 

The book’s been around for decades so a paperback can be found for as little as 3 or 4 dollars, $0 for kindle. 

I hope (and pray!) that whether it’s through this booklet or something else, the Lord will fan the flames of our faith, and we would each grow in our desire to pray, in the Spirit, prayers that would move mountains. 

For Him, 

 

A Wake-Up Call and a Prayer in Light of the Events in Afghanistan

As I read the news about what’s going on in Afghanistan, I’m repeatedly being reminded of prophetic scripture. 

“And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Matthew 24:15-16

Not that what we see happening is the specific fulfillment of these scriptures, but we can see it coming. The birth pains are getting more frequent and more painful. 

As we lift up in prayer those in danger in Afghanistan, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ who are a particular target, let’s remember we cannot give way to fear. Fear leads to weakness and that’s exactly what the enemy wants. 

We must set aside our fear, remember whose we are – the chosen children of our Heavenly Father, redeemed by Christ, filled with His Holy Spirit, and given an eternal promise. 

Let’s pray, believing.  Believing in His love, in His strength, in His power, we can pray with confidence, knowing that He hears us, He is on the throne, and in full control. 

I believe the events we see happening should be a wake up call to waste no more time.  Now is the time to make sure we are right with the Lord, to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Hebrews 12:1b-2a

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” 1 Cor. 3:16-17

Therefore, ‘Come out from among them (unbelievers) and be separated’ says the Lord, ‘and do not touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor. 6:17

“I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” Lev 20:8


Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, your only begotten Son, and the only name under heaven given by which anyone can be saved. 

We pray for the pouring out of your Holy Spirit for the revival of hearts that are cold or lukewarm, and for the salvation of countless more souls.  

We pray you would strengthen the love and faith of your Church, that you would “strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you.” (Isaiah 35:3-4)

We pray we would be found being about your business, walking in your Spirit, serving boldly in the gifts you have so graciously given to us, building up one another and making disciples, that you might be glorified and magnified through us.

We pray you would fill our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan with your peace that surpasses all understanding and with a fresh boldness to continue in hopeful, faithful prayer and to stand firm in their faith. We pray their witness would lead many to Christ. May they feel our prayers through the powerful presence of your Holy Spirit. 

We pray you would be with our soldiers and with all those they are charged with bringing home, that every one would arrive safely. We pray our president and all those who oversee our country would turn to you in humble reverence and repentance, receive you as Lord, and be filled with your wisdom, praying that you would intervene. Please bind the the work of the enemy, Almighty God. 

May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Walk in the Spirit

People photo created by jcomp – www.freepik.com

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you, and we are so grateful you’ve called us to walk the journey of life with you. 

Thank you for knowing what this week holds and already making a way for us through it. We pray you would remind us to be intentional every moment of every day to walk through it, not in our flesh, but in your Spirit and His power. 

Help us remember to think with the mind of Christ, to see others with His eyes, and to love, forgive, and show grace and mercy with His heart. 

We are yours. “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” 

May all we do, say, and think glorify and magnify the Name above all names, until we meet you face to face. 

In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen. 

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Please let me know if I can pray for you in any way. 

For Him,

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Remove the Boundaries of Our Minds

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you today and glorify your holy name. Lord, we confess that we can, even unintentionally, limit how or for what we pray because of the boundaries of our own human minds and the limitations we can place on you.  

Father we ask that you would give us great faith and boldness in our prayers. Help us pray not just big prayers, but “impossible” prayers. Remind us to enter into prayer by acknowledging your greatness and praying in the power of your limitless Holy Spirit. 

Father, lead us in the kind of prayer that would change us, empower us, embolden us, enlarge the territory of what you desire to do in and through us. 

With Paul we say “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” 

And we also know your word says “…you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Father, thank you that in Christ we have every spiritual blessing. We pray that none of those blessings goes unrealized in our lives because we fail to ask for it, or we ask amiss. 

We humbly pray that in Christ you would pour out your blessings, your gifts, your wisdom, your light, your love, so that we can build up the kingdom and see many come to Christ. 

We thank you in advance for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, amen. 

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Please let me know if I can pray for you in any way.  Lord bless you!

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Contentment

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy name. You are the Creator of heaven and earth. You give life, physically and spiritually, and you are the Provider of all good things. 

Your word tells us that godliness with contentment is great gain. Lord, we confess we can get caught up in this world and all it says we need to have for happiness. But those are only traps to keep us from what this life is meant to be. 

We pray that as we walk in the Spirit we would be content with where you have us today. You’ve ordered our lives according to your purpose, and we know you’ll provide anything we need.

And we do pray for those in need right now. We know you see each of your children and you hear their prayers. We ask that you would meet all their needs according to the riches of your glory in Christ.

As we rest in your provision, help us take our eyes off ourselves, off the temporary trials we may find ourselves in, knowing that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 

We ask for your vision to see our lives here as you see them – very short periods of time we have to know you, to cling to you so we can grow up in spiritual maturity, being transformed into the image of Christ with ever-increasing glory, that we may be fully ready for the eternal life you’re preparing for us now. 

Give us boldness, Father, as we look for the opportunities you give us to magnify and glorify the Name of Jesus, that many will come to know Him as Lord and Savior, and that we might fulfill Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. 

Help us to not waste this time on things that don’t matter, but to use it according to your perfect will and plan for our lives. And as we do, we know we won’t miss out one bit on any fleeting moment of superficial happiness in the world, but instead we’ll be filled with the depth of joy and peace that only comes from knowing you. 

Thank you, Father. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

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As always, if you have a prayer request, please feel free to leave a comment, email me, or message me on my Facebook or Twitter pages. I’d be honored to pray for you. 

For Him,
Dorci

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer for True Freedom

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and precious name. Lord, we are forever grateful for this free nation you’ve given us. Thank you for giving those who founded it a desire to have a land where we have a right to freedoms, including a right to freely seek you, and that their vision was based on their belief in you and your word. 

Thank you for blessing us so abundantly. 

Father, all these years later, as a nation we’ve forgotten you. What’s right is wrong, and what’s wrong is right. We’ve removed you from schools and courts and in many cases, churches. We humbly ask for your forgiveness, and we beseech you, on your great mercies by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the power of your Holy Spirit, we pray for revival. 

We pray you would pour out your Spirit for an awakening to our sin leading to repentance. We pray you would come against the forces of darkness at work among us, that you would bind the hand of the enemy, pour out your grace, and heal our land.

We pray for churches that are led by unsaved people that you would bring salvation. We pray for churches that are led by people who have forgotten you that they would turn back to you and allow you to lead them. And we pray for churches that are led by those faithful to you, that are led by your Holy Spirit, that you would strengthen them and give them boldness and courage to continue teaching your word and praying with boldness.

Father, I ask for forgiveness for my own sins. Where there is sin hiding in my heart, please reveal it to me and help me confess it before you and walk uprightly, and be holy – set apart for you and your work. May you use the struggles in our lives to draw us ever closer to you and make us more faithful and more useful in your hands. 

We pray for those who love you but have been hurt by the church and have left it. Please heal their hearts and lead them to a church that is Spirit-led where they can be loved and grow. 

In all this, we pray you would strengthen the church to become a beacon of your light and holiness, examples of love in all we do to a lost and dying world that needs you so much.

Thank you for the true and lasting freedom you give us in Jesus Christ, and we pray you would move upon countless hearts to desire that same freedom, and through the salvation of many, our land would be free from hatred and violence, free to serve a Holy and loving God, and live with you, and one another, in peace. 

We give you our hearts, Lord, and pray your perfect will is done. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen. 


If you need prayer, please feel free to contact me.  

Sunday Praise and a Father’s Day Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise and glorify you. Thank you for the blessing of calling us to be not only worshippers, not only your kingdom and your church, but your own sons and daughters. Help us grasp even more of the magnitude of what that means not just eternally but in our lives every day. 

Help us daily remember that you are our Heavenly Father and you desire to be and do all a good Father does in the life of His child, so that we never hesitate to call on you for every need, big and small. 

For those who might have had a difficult or even non-existent relationship with their fathers, please show them you are not like that. You are always full of love and forgiveness and compassion and faithfulness, and that you desired a relationship with us so much that you sent your own Son to bridge the gap between us through His death and resurrection. 

Lord, we lift up our fathers to you. First, we pray for those who know you, that they would know the joy of abiding in you and being filled with the knowledge and wisdom that fathers need for their children. Please teach them how to be the dad you’ve called them to be so that they bless each of their children in the way they need. 

Second, we pray for the fathers who have yet to know you. Lord, we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit to draw fathers into a saving relationship with you, so you can heal hearts and break the chains of generations of sin, beginning new and godly relationships between dads and their children. 

We are immensely grateful, Heavenly Father, for all you’ve done and all you will do. May we glorify you today and every day. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, amen.

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer For Strength in Our Brokenness

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and powerful name. 

Lord, so many times we try to run from our brokenness and our weaknesses and perceived flaws by ignoring them or hiding them or trying to right them ourselves. 

Instead, we offer them up to you today and ask that you would fill those places with your strength and power and make our faith even stronger, our character more beautiful, than we ever would have been without them. 

We give you all the glory and honor and praise in advance for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

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If you have any prayer requests, please leave a comment, message, or email me. I’d be honored to pray for you. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer on Pentecost

Before we get to our prayer, let’s look for just a moment at Pentecost. 

With the Lord there are no coincidences.

First, Passover is the observance of the time in Egypt when God caused the plague of death to pass over the those who’d taken refuge inside homes where the doorframes were covered with sacrificial lamb’s blood.

And Passover was the day God ordained the crucifixion of Christ, the perfect sacrificial Lamb, and the shedding of His blood so that spiritual death would pass over any who would take refuge in the blood of Christ through belief in Him.

Likewise, fifty days after Passover is Pentecost (which means fifty), also known as the Feast of Weeks, the celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest.

It was also the day God ordained to send His Holy Spirit to indwell the disciples of Christ, referred to several times in the Bible as wheat, reaping the first fruits of the harvest of Christ’s work on the cross.

For those of us who believe in Christ and are filled with His Holy Spirit, we are the continued harvest of those seeds Christ planted all those years ago. 

Not only is Passover a day to remember that miraculous, joyful time in the lives of the first disciples, but a celebration of what God’s still doing today.  


Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your glorious name. Thank you for your perfect ways and for the beauty in all your plans. 

Thank you for the gift of salvation and of your Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom, teaches us, ministers to us, comforts us, and leads us through the treacherous terrain in our lives. We are forever grateful for your grace and mercy. 

Father, we pray you would use us to continue your work, and that many more harvests would come as your Holy Spirit works in and through us. In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen.